When in Gaia
by animechick247
Summary: Side story to "Konohagakure's Unlikely Alliance". What did Mikomi do during her stay in Gaia? Let's find out in this exciting side story.
1. Chapter 1

Prolog

**A/N: Here's my other side story that I've made for "Konohakagure's Unlikely Alliance". This story will focus more about Mikomi's stay in Gaia for the first time. I should warn you that some events may be out of order from the main story. You've been warned. Don't forget to read my other side story called "Big Brother" as well.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7, I do however, own the lovely Mikomi.**

**Enjoy!**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

* * *

Mikomi faced a lot of scary things as a ninja. She survived assassination attempts, managed to pass the life threatening Anbu Black Ops exam, lived with a crazy godmother for 13 years, and even had a demon sealed inside of her.

She faced tons of crazy and bizarre situations, but the one that she was in now was the icing on the cake.

She thought that she would be coming home from a simple mission and somehow wound up in a totally different world!

A group called AVALANCE found her and was kind enough to let her stay with them until she found out how to get home.

She looked at the orb in her hands that she now knew was a materia. This little sphere somehow took her from her home and brought her to this place called Gaia A.K.A, the Planet.

Holding it to her chest, she closed her eyes tightly.

"_How did I get stuck in this situation?" _she thought. _"I just want to go home. I want to see Naruto. I don't want to be stuck on a different world by myself. I'm so scared"_

"Hey!" Usagi cried. "What do you mean by yourself? Have you forgotten that I sleep within your body 24/7? You're not alone. I'm right here; Mikomi and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. We're in this together"

Mikomi smiled fondly at the fox's words. Leave it to Usagi to make her feel safe and sound. Even after she was sealed inside of her, she still kept an eye on her till this day.

It was times like this that she was glad that she was a Jinchuriki.

Tifa came up to her and gently touched her shoulder.

"It's been a very long day for you. Let's get your room ready and call it a night"

Mikomi smiled at the older woman. Even thought she just met her, she had to admit that she was very nice.

"Thank you"

She slowly followed her up the stairs to where she would sleep for the night.

Looking at the materia one last time, she put it in her pocket and went down the hallway.

If she was going to stay here for a few days, then she was going to have to make the best of it. She just hoped the she would return home before Naruto did anything stupid.

Over all, this was going to be a very interesting experience for her.

* * *

**A/N: There's your intro. I'm sure you all know by now that intros are not my forte. But at least I write good chapters. Hope you all liked this; I'm looking forward to how this will turn out. Usually side stories either turn out sucky or no one really cares for them, I just hope I don't fall into those categories. **

**Remember to send in those reviews, I live off of them, and be sure to check out my other side story was well.**

**Ja ne. **


	2. Settling In

Chapter 1: Settling In

**A/N: Hey! Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

* * *

Mikomi followed Tifa up to the living quarters of the bar. The stairs creaked every time she put her weight on them.

She really didn't remembered what upstairs looked like. She just got up the last time, and she was still trying to figure out where she was. But now that she saw it, she had to admit that it looked really nice for living quarters.

Tifa gave her a small smile as she watched her guest's curious observation.

"It's not much, but its home"

Mikomi blush when she realized that Tifa was watching her.

"I-I think it's very nice. It has this touch that makes it really…homey"

Tifa grinned.

"Well I'm glad you like it. Now let's get you something to wear for tonight and get your room set"

She motioned for her to follow her, which she did.

Tifa went into her room and pulled some Pajama's out of her drawers.

She pulled out a white tang top and flannel shorts.

"Here you go. I sure these will be a lot comfier that your regular clothes"

Mikomi slowly took the pajamas from her.

"Thank you" she said softly.

Tifa just patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You're are guest after all"

Mikomi nodded.

"I'll try not to be a burden and stay out of your way while I'm here"

She knew all too well that people didn't want to be near a Jinchuriki. They avoided her and her brother like they were the plague.

Tifa made a face at her.

"You won't be a burden. I'm sure that you're pretty scared with everything that's happened to you. You don't need to worry about anything while you're here. You just enjoy yourself"

Mikomi gave her a small smile. She had to be the first person who treated her this way.

She looked at the pajamas she had in her hands then looked at Tifa.

"Um…where will I be sleeping, if you don't mind me asking?"

Marlene came in and tugged on her pants.

"You can sleep with me! There's lots of room in my bedroom"

She looked at the little girl then looked at Tifa to see if it was ok.

The martial artist grinned.

"That's fine with me. That way Marlene won't be the only girl in the room"

Mikomi nodded and let Marlene pull her into her bedroom.

* * *

When she came into the bedroom, she recognized it immediately. She was in here when she first woke up.

"_This must be Denzel and Marlene's room" _she thought.

She looked around the room.

Half of it was covered with drawings and stuffed animals which clearly told it was Marlene's side while the other was plain and had a few wooded figures that looked like giant chickens.

Denzel sat on his bed and looked at her.

"Are you going to be staying with us?" he asked.

She nodded her head.

"Yes. Marlene wanted me to stay here"

Marlene pulled her to the spare bed that was put in the room.

"You can sleep here. It's really comfy so you'll fall asleep in no time"

Mikomi gave her a small smile.

"Thanks"

Tifa came into the room and stood near the doorway.

"Are you two ready for bed?"

Denzel jumped off his bed.

"Almost. We just need to get in our pajamas"

"Ok, well hurry up. It's time for bed for you two"

Tifa looked at Mikomi.

"You can change in the bathroom if you want"

She nodded and quickly left the room so the children could change.

* * *

As she was changing, she talked to Usagi.

"_Hey Usagi"_

"What?"

"_What do you think about this whole situation we're in?"_

"Can't really say anything. This so random. Nothing like this ever happens in real life"

"_I know, that's why I'm scared"_

"What's there to be scared of? You're a ninja; you've dealt with worse cases. And that Tifa chick seemed very nice. There's nothing to worry about"

"_That's why I'm scared. No one has ever been nice to me before, except for Yuri and Kakashi. I'm not used to it"_

"Well get used to it. Stuff like this never happens for a Jinchuriki, so take this opportunity while you still can"

Mikomi didn't say anything as she put her top on. She looked herself in the mirror and had to admit that she didn't look half bad in these pajamas.

"_This is going to be a long stay, I just know it"_

"Perhaps. But look on the bright side, you meet people who are being nice to you and I'm right here. There's nothing to be afraid of"

Tifa knocked on the door.

"Mikomi? Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah. I'll be out in a sec"

"_I'll talk to you later, Usagi"_

"See you later, Mikomi. I'll be here whenever you need to talk to me"

She stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Tifa.

"Sorry if I took so long"

"That's fine. I'm sure it's be a very long day for you and you have a lot on your mind"

Mikomi nodded.

"You could say that"

Cloud came upstairs and headed for his room.

"Cloud, aren't you going to say goodnight to our guest?" Tifa asked.

The blond looked at his friend then at their guest.

Mikomi avoided eye contact with him and just looked at the floor.

He was a little grateful for that. He was afraid that he would see Aerith's face again if he looked her in the eye.

"Night" he said in his emotionless voice.

Mikomi nodded in return.

"N-night"

The blond went into his room and closed the door.

Tifa patted Mikomi on the shoulder.

"Don't let Cloud scare you. He's just got a lot on his mind lately and he doesn't know how to deal with it"

"T-that's fine" Mikomi mumbled.

Tifa lead her back into the kid's bedroom and patted her shoulder.

"Good night, Mikomi. We promise we'll get you back to your world, don't worry"

Mikomi gave her a small smile.

"Thank you. And thank you for everything that you're doing for me"

Tifa smiled at her.

"It's no problem"

With that, Mikomi bid her good night and went into the kid's room for the night.

* * *

She sat on the bed that was put into the room and sunk within the mattress. Marlene was right when she said it was comfy.

She looked at the children to see that they were already in their pajamas.

Denzel wore flannel blue pajamas while Marlene wore a pink nightgown that had moogles on them.

Marlene pulled her braid out and let her hair go all over the place.

She grinned at her when she saw that she was looking her.

"Good night" she said.

"Good night" she replied.

Marlene went to her pile of stuffed animals and pulled out a stuffed wolf.

"You can sleep with Wolfy tonight. He always makes me feel better when I'm sleeping somewhere different"

She handed her the toy wolf.

Mikomi examined the wolf for a moment. It was gray and fuzzy and had blue buttons for eyes.

She thought that was real sweet of Marlene to let her sleep with Wolfy, plus she loved wolves.

"Thank you, Marlene. I'm sure Wolfy will make me sleep better"

Marlene grinned.

"Yay!"

She jumped into her bed and pulled the covers over her.

"See you in the morning" She said.

"Good night" Denzel said.

The light was turned off and the children went to sleep.

Mikomi lay down on her bed and looked at Wolfy. Tonight would be her first night staying in a new world. It was a scary thought to her. She was so far away from Naruto and she didn't know how she was going to get back.

She prayed that Tifa would keep her promise to find a way to bring her home.

Closing her eyes, she clutched Wolfy to her and went to sleep.

If she was going to be staying here for a while, then she had to prepare for it.

* * *

**A/N: And there you go. That was how Mikomi spent her first night in Gaia. I know it's not very exciting, but hey, she just found out that she's on a different world and she's trying to adjust to it.**

**I promise that the next chapters will be better than this, you just have to wait.**

**Please remember to review, I always enjoy them.**

**Ja ne**


	3. Morning

Chapter 2: Morning

**A/N: I know I haven't written for a while, but school has been getting to me and I was working on my other story.**

**Hope this chapter is better than the last one.**

**This is an expanded chapter of Chapter 7 from the main story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

Enjoy!

* * *

When she woke up, she had to remind herself that she wasn't in Konoha anymore.

"_That's right. I wound up in this strange world they called Gaia"_

She looked at the stuffed wolf that Marlene let her use.

"_Hey, Usagi. You up?"_

She could hear the fox yawning in her head.

"I am now"

"_Sorry if I woke you"_

"That's cool. I'm sure you didn't want to wake up on a strange world on your own"

"_I thought it was all just a dream"_

"Me too, but as you can see, we're still stuck on this world. We might as well make the best of it"

Mikomi looked at Wolfy and closed her eyes.

"_I miss Naruto"_

"I know you do, but I'm sure he's alright. Yuri should be back from her mission soon, so he won't be alone for long"

"_That's true, but I'm used to being woken up by him"_

"You'll just have to make the best of it for now. You'll see him in no time"

Denzel and Marlene started to wake up.

"That's my que to leave. See you later, Mikomi. And stay out of trouble"

Marlene sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She smiled when she saw Mikomi.

"Good morning"

Mikomi gave her a small smile in return.

"Good morning"

Marlene jumped out of her bed and went to Mikomi's.

"Did Wolfy keep you company last night?"

Mikomi nodded as she held the wolf.

"He did, thank you for letting me sleep with him"

Marlene smiled.

"You're welcome"

Denzel sat on her bed as well.

He had this curious look on his face that reminded her of Naruto.

"So…you're from a different world?"

Mikomi nodded.

"That's what everyone is saying. I've never heard of a place called Edger before, so it must be true"

"And you're a ninja?"

"Yep"

She took off the headband that she tied around her neck. She used it to hide the nasty scar that ran across her throat.

She held her headband out to him.

"This headband means that I'm a ninja from The Village Hidden in the Leaves. I can't do mission unless I have this"

Denzel picked it up and examined it.

"This looks cool"

He tied it around his neck in the same manner that Mikomi wore it.

"Do you have to wear it like this?"

Mikomi giggled a little.

"No. People usually wear around their foreheads; I just like to wear mine around my neck"

She fixed it so it was around his forehead like how Naruto wore his.

He looked pretty good with it on.

It slipped and fell over his eyes a few seconds later.

They burst into giggles.

Mikomi had to admit that they were really cute.

Out of nowhere, their stomachs started to gurgle.

They all blushed a little in embarrassment.

"Looks like we should go downstairs to eat" Denzel said.

He got off the bed and went downstairs for breakfast.

Marlene got off and held her hand out for Mikomi.

"Come on. Let's go eat"

She gave the girl a soft smile and wrapped her hand around the tiny girl's hand.

Marlene led her downstairs to where Tifa was probably making breakfast.

* * *

The smell of bacon and eggs hit Mikomi's nostrils when she came down.

She didn't realize how hungry she really was until just then.

Tifa was busy at preparing everyone's meal.

Marlene went up to Tifa and hugged her leg.

"Tifa, our guest is up"

Tifa turned around and smiled at Mikomi.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Mikomi nodded.

"Yes. Thank you again for the bed"

Tifa just waved her off.

"Please, you're our guest. It's not every day that we have company, let alone someone from a different world"

She went back to making breakfast and started making pancakes.

Denzel came into the room.

"Tifa, they're here"

Tifa grinned.

"Oh good"

She turned to Mikomi.

"Cid, Barret and Yuffie are joining us for breakfast. They wanted to get to know you better, if that's alright?"

Mikomi just shrugged.

"I don't mind. I need to know more about this world, so maybe they can help me"

Tifa grinned.

"Oh good"

Marlene tugged on her arm.

"You can sit by me for breakfast"

She pulled her into the dining room to where they would be eating.

* * *

Everyone was pretty much there when she came into the dining room.

Yuffie burst out of her seat when she saw her.

"Good morning ninja buddy!"

She ran up to her and gave her a tight bear hug.

"Are you enjoying your stay here so far?"

Mikomi held back a flinch as Yuffie hugged her. She hugged just like Yuri.

"So far, yeah. But I'm still unsure as to where I'm at exactly"

Yuffie let her go and grinned at her.

"Don't worry. I can give you a grand tour while you're staying here. I can even show you Wutai!"

She squealed at the idea.

"Oh, I'm so excited that I finally found someone who's a ninja as well! There are so few of us that it's not even funny"

Mikomi held back a giggle.

This Yuffie person was really funny.

Marlene tugged on her arm again.

"Come on, sit with me"

Yuffie pushed her from behind.

"You sit by me too!"

Mikomi was guided to her seat and was shoved down by Yuffie.

She looked across the table to see Cid and Barret starting at her.

They were both studying her with a look that made her feel uneasy.

Marlene sat next to her and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry about my daddy. He's really nice"

Barret, who was sitting next to her, ruffled his daughter's hair.

Cid stuck a cigarette in his mouth and went to light it.

"Cid! Don't smoke now! We're about to eat for crying out loud" Yuffie cried.

"Plus, we have a guest. I don't think she wants her lungs to be filled up with such toxic smoke"

Cid sent her a nasty glare.

Nobody told Cid when he should smoke.

Mikomi waved her hands defensively.

"T-that's fine! I don't mind. I have friends who smoke a lot from where I'm from"

"Not to mention Yuri smokes when she's stressed out" Usagi added.

"Feel free to smoke. I don't care"

Cid just shrugged and struck his match.

Cloud came in just as he was about to light his cigarette.

"Cid, what have I told you about smoking when we're about to eat?"

Cid just growled and put his match out. Sure, he didn't take crap from anyone, but when it came to Cloud then he had no choice.

Marlene got up from her seat and hugged Cloud's leg.

"Morning, Cloud"

Cloud just patted her head. He was always too shy to show his soft side.

"Morning Marlene"

She went back to her seat and grabbed Mikomi's arm.

"Are you going to say hi to Mikomi?"

Cloud nearly flinched. He almost forgot that he found this girl who looked like Aerith.

He really didn't want to, but he knew it would be wrong if he did.

He wiled himself to face her and he almost looked away when he made eye contact with her.

Those green eyes seemed to haunt him as he looked at them.

The last time he saw those green eyes, they were dull and lifeless.

Mikomi gave him a small smile and a wave.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Cloud just looked at her with that blank, emotionless look of his and nodded.

Mikomi sweat dropped but didn't say anything.

* * *

Tifa came into the room with platefuls of food.

She struggled a bit as she tried to make sure the orange juice didn't spill.

Mikomi quickly got up from her seat and grabbed a few plates from her.

"Here, let me help you"

Tifa smiled at her.

"Well aren't you sweet"

She quickly rounded on her friends.

"Why can't you be more helpful like our guest? Just for that, you don't get second!"

"Keep your pants on, Tifa" Cid said. "It's just breakfast"

Tifa glared at him.

"Just for that, you don't get a full serving"

She gave Cid only one pancake and a strip of bacon while she gave everyone two.

Tifa gave Mikomi three of everything.

"You eat as much as you like" She said.

Mikomi blushed but thanked her.

They all ate in silence, except for Cid, who was swearing over his small meal.

* * *

Mikomi silently munched on her piece of bacon.

Now that she was fully awake, she needed to figure out how she was going to get back home.

"_I need to hurry, or else Naruto will worry"_

"Who care about that kid? He's old enough to take care of himself." Usagi said.

"Now give me that bacon before I take over your body to eat it"

Mikomi mentally smiled and ate her bacon.

"God damn, that's good! This Tifa chick sure knows how to cook"

Mikomi had to agree.

She heard Cid's stomach growl and saw him looking at his empty plate.

She felt bad for him. He really didn't do anything wrong.

"_I should give him some of my food" _She thought.

"If you don't give him the bacon, then it's fine by me. Otherwise, you'll have one unhappy fox" Usagi said.

She took one of her pancakes and plopped it on Cid's plate.

"What the?"

The pilot looked up to see her give him a second pancake.

She pressed her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet.

"Eat them before she comes back" She whispered.

Cid raised an eyebrow at her as she ate her eggs.

Tifa could be heard coming back, so he quickly shoved the pancakes into his mouth and painfully swallowed them.

The martial artist came in just as he was able to get the wad of pancakes down his throat.

Tifa smiled when she saw that Mikomi's plate was practically empty.

"Wow, you must have been hungry. I'll go make you some more"

She went back to the kitchen to make some more.

Mikomi looked at Cid and winked at him. The pilot managed to give her a lop sided grin.

Mikomi went to finish her eggs when she saw a strip of bacon land on her plate.

She looked to her right to see Marlene give her another piece of bacon.

"You look like you're hungry" the little girl said.

Mikomi gave her a soft smile.

"Thank you"

Yuffie felt left out, so she gave her one of her pancakes.

"Here you go, since Cid pretty much ate all of your pancakes"

Cid gave her a nasty glare.

"You little"

Mikomi giggled as she watched to two bicker.

Even though this was her first day as being a guest to AVALANCE, she had to admit that she was liking her stay so far.

She was still worried about getting home to Naruto, but it wouldn't hurt to have a mini vacation.

"I'm up for it. You've been working way too hard and hardly had any time for a break. I suggest you enjoy it while you can"

Mikomi grinned at Usagi.

"_What the heck, it's not like I have anything better to do"_

With that, she happily munched on her bacon as she anticipated on her knew adventure on this strange world.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it. I thought it would be interesting if I extended the breakfast scene from the original story.**

**Remember to send in those reviews please.**

**I'll give you a cookie if you do.**


	4. Play Time and Jutsu Tricks

Chapter 3: Play Time and Jutsu Tricks

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here we are with the next installment to this wonderful side story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

**Enjoy!**

* * *

After breakfast was done, Mikomi helped Tifa with the dishes.

"Thank you for the meal, Tifa-san. It was really good"

Tifa smiled at her.

"It was nothing. Thank you for helping me with the dishes. And call me Tifa"

Mikomi smiled at her as she dried off one of the dishes.

"_She's really nice"_

"Yeah, and she's an awesome cook. 'Burp' I've never been this full before"

Mikomi mentally sweat dropped at her inner demon.

"_You're too much for me sometimes, Usagi"_

She went back to drying dishes and talked with Tifa as she did.

* * *

Marlene came down a few minutes later dressed for the day. Denzel came down a few seconds later with a soccer ball in hand.

"Tifa, can we go play outside?"

Tifa nodded.

"Just stay out of trouble, ok?"

Denzel nodded and went outside.

Marlene went over to Mikomi and tugged on her pants.

"Do you want to play with me?"

Mikomi looked at her for a moment then at Tifa to see if it was alright.

The martial artist smiled and nodded.

"You go have fun"

Marlene cheered and pulled Mikomi outside.

"Come on! Let's go play jump rope!"

Mikomi almost tripped as the little girl tugged her outside.

"Wait! I need to get dressed first!"

* * *

After getting dressed in her normal clothing, Mikomi played jump rope with Marlene.

'_I haven't done this since I was 5' _she thought.

Marlene was counting how many times she could jump without tripping over the rope.

Yuffie was playing soccer with Denzel and she made a goal.

"She scores! The crowd goes wild!"

She made a victory cheer as she ran around.

Mikomi giggled as she watched the Wutai ninja run around. She reminded her of Naruto.

"36, 37, 38"

Marlene kept jumping without tripping over.

"Wow, Marlene. You're really good" Mikomi said.

She gave up jumping at around 12 jumps.

"You just suck at jump rope"

Marlene grinned at her.

"Thanks"

Barret and Cid came out to watch the kids play.

Yuffie made another goal and cheered again.

"Do you have to be so loud, Yuffie?" Cid asked.

"It's just a game"

Yuffie stuck her tongue at him.

"You're just jealous because you can't play as good as I can"

"Trust me; you don't want me to play. I'll just embarrass you by winning"

"Like you can beat me, old man"

A tick mark appeared on his forehead.

"Old man, you say?"

He stood up and put his cigarette out.

"That's it! You're on!"

He ran out and took the soccer ball.

"I'll show you how it's done!"

Mikomi and Marlene sat next to Barret as they watched Cid kick the ball away from Denzel and Yuffie.

The pilot was pretty good, considering his age.

Marlene sat in Barret's lap and had Mikomi sit next to them.

Mikomi nervously sat next to Barret and looked up at him.

It wasn't that she was afraid of him, she was just nervous about that gun arm of his.

Barret seemed to have noticed that and let out a loud laugh.

He patted her on the shoulder, and gave her a huge grin.

"Relax kiddo. I'm not going to shot you"

Marlene nodded.

"My daddy is really nice. He's like a giant teddy bear"

"As long as you don't hurt Marlene, I won't hurt you" Barret added.

"Why would I hurt a cute, little girl like her?" Mikomi asked.

Barret laughed again.

"You're alright, kiddo"

Mikomi gave him a nervous smile.

* * *

Cloud came out with a package in hand.

"You have another delivery to do?" Barret asked.

The blonde nodded and got on his bike.

"You just keep your spiky head safe"

Marlene waved to him.

"Bye, Cloud!"

Mikomi gave him a small smile.

"Be safe"

Cloud just looked at her for a moment. His face seemed to be blank. He gave her a nod and went off.

Mikomi sighed.

"I don't think he likes me"

"Don't be like that" Barret said.

"Cloud is always like that. Just give him some time to warm up to you"

Mikomi nodded dully.

"Ok"

"Aw man!"

They turned back to the game to see the ball was stuck on the roof.

"Way to go, Yuffie" Cid said sarcastically.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" she protested.

Denzel sighed.

"Now how are we going to get it?"

Mikomi stood up from where she was sitting and stood near them.

"I'll get it" she said.

Cid just looked at her.

"And how will you do that? You can't get up there without a ladder"

"I'll jump then"

"huh?"

She sent chakra to her feet and jumped into the air. She landed on the roof cat like and picked up the ball.

"_That wasn't so bad" _she thought.

"Yeah, but don't be a little show off about it" Usagi said.

Mikomi nodded and jumped off the roof to land right in front of her friends.

She handed the ball back to Denzel.

"Here you go"

The boy just had a stunned look upon his face as he took it back from her.

Cid and Yuffie wore the same expressions on their faces.

Mikomi looked at them confused.

"What?"

"How the hell did you do that?!" Cid cried.

Mikomi rubbed the back of her neck.

"I just did a chakra jump"

"Catra wha?" Yuffie asked.

"Chakra" Mikomi corrected her.

"It's basically a natural essence that ninja like myself use to perform techniques"

She summoned up her chakra and had the blue energy glow around her body for a moment.

"As long as I have Chakra, I can do just about anything"

"What exactly do you mean by anything?" Cid asked.

"I mean _anything_"

She sent chakra to her feet and walked up to the side of the bar and walked on it.

"I can walk on walls"

She walked under the porch.

"On ceilings"

She landed back on the ground and performed handsigns.

"I can breathe fire"

She performed the fireball jutsu and spewed fire from her mouth.

"I can make two of me"

She performed the shadow clone jutsu.

"Change my appearance"

She transformed her clone to look like Yuffie.

"I can do just about anything as long as I have chakra"

She dismissed the clone and looked at the others. She sweatdropped when they were giving her weird looks.

"I take it this world doesn't use chakra?"

"We've never even heard of it" Cid said. "Nor have we seen tricks like that either"

She laughed nervously.

"I guess I stick out then, huh?"

"_Great, I'm a freak on this world too"_

"Get used to it"

Denzel tugged on her pants.

"Can you do something else?"

Marlene ran up to her and tugged on her pants as well.

"Yeah! Can you do that fire trick again?"

She looked at the two kids.

"I thought you wanted to play soccer?"

"We can play soccer later. We want to see you do more tricks!"

Mikomi didn't know what to do.

"_Usagi, what should I do?"_

"You brought this upon yourself, you take care of it"

"_Should I show them a few tricks?"_

"If that will make them shut up, then fine. Just don't do any drastic moves or else you'll get hurt"

Mikomi gathered her chakra and performed a few handsigns.

Electricity covered her hand and formed into a type of whip.

"Lightning whip!"

She snapped her whip a few times to create an electric charge.

Denzel and Marlene were jumping as they watched.

Mikomi pulled out a few mini targets she kept in her weapon pouch and threw them into the air.

She snapped her whip at them and watched as the targets exploded. Every time she hit a target, it was like watching fireworks.

Yuffie was enjoying this too and kept encouraging her to continue with the kids.

Cid sat next to Barret and watched as their guests amazed the kids with her trick.

"Cloud found one strange girl" Barret said.

"Yep" Cid agreed.

They watched her fool around with the targets for a few more minutes before Mikomi felt drained from her chakra.

"Ok, that's enough for today"

The kids and Yuffie pouted when she put her whip away.

Mikomi staggered over to where Cid and Barret were and flopped down on the steps.

"_I forgot how my lightning whip nearly drains my chakra"_

"You just suck at chakra manipulation" Usagi said.

Mikomi was too tired to argue with her.

"You alright, kiddo?" Barret asked.

Mikomi gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I just used too much of my chakra"

Her eyes became a little droopy.

"I can't use a lot of my chakra or else I get really tired. If I use up all of my chakra, I'm as good as dead"

Yuffie gasped and ran up to her.

"I'm sorry, Ninja buddy!"

She pulled her into a giant bear hug and swung her around.

"I didn't know I was slowly killing you! What kind of person am I! I'm murderer and I didn't even know it!"

Mikomi's face went a little green as Yuffie kept swinging her.

"Yuffie, she's gonna throw up if you keep swinging her like that" Cid said.

Yuffie gasped again and set her on her feet.

"Now I almost made you sick! I'm a monster!"

"Oh yeah, she is definitely a Yuri clone" Yuri said.

Mikomi held back the urge to throw up as she regained her balance.

Yuffie was bawling as she rubbed her face against hers.

Mikomi managed to pull away from her and patted her shoulder.

"It's ok, Yuffie. I'll be fine. I just need to eat and have a good night's sleep and I'll be good as new"

Yuffie looked at her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really"

"Oh, it that case"

She pulled her back into the bar.

"Oi! Tifa! Mikomi needs something to eat!"

Tifa came into the room looking confused.

"Huh?"

Mikomi explained to her about chakra and what it does to her.

"Oh dear, I'll get you something really quick. Hang on"

Mikomi just sat in one of the booths in the bar and let her head hit the table.

Denzel and Marlene slowly came up to her.

"Um…Mikomi-Chan?"

Mikomi opened one of her tired eyes.

"Yeah?"

Marlene tugged at her dress.

"When you feel better…do you want to play again?"

Mikomi gave her a weak smile.

"Sure, why not?"

The little girl grinned and pulled Denzel outside to play.

Mikomi smiled a little and closed her eye again.

"Aw, is someone tired?"

"_Shut up, Usagi"_

"Hey, this is what you get for showing off your Justus. Now you must pay the consequences"

Mikomi didn't say anything and just went to sleep.

It was nice that she was able to play for once, but for now, she needed to take a nap.

She just hoped that she would have more fun when she woke up later.

* * *

**A/N: I know it wasn't glamorous, but it's better than nothing.**

**Please send in your review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	5. New Friends

Chapter 5: New Friends

**A/N: I know it's been a while since I last updated this story, but I just couldn't think of anything. Now that I finally have, I can finally update and you don't have to wait anymore.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The day went by really fast for Mikomi.

Before she knew it, it was already night time.

Her body felt recharged after her little nap and she didn't feel chakra deprived anymore.

Yuffie tried to see if she could perform her electric whip again, but Tifa scolded her.

It was already bedtime for the inhabitants of Seventh Heaven and everyone seemed to be tired.

Or at least, most of them.

Yuffie decided to sleep over for the night so she could get to know Mikomi better.

The Wutai ninja was jumping on her air mattress with excitement.

"This is so cool! I've always wanted to have a sleep over!"

She was wearing a white T-shirt with a monkey on the back and green flannel shorts.

Mikomi wore the same pajama's that Tifa let her use from the night before.

The Konoha Kunochi just looked at Yuffie as she kept bouncing.

"_She really does act like Yuri"_

"Yeah, that's kind of scary that there's someone out in this world who's like her"

Denzel and Marlene were giggling as they saw Yuffie tried to touch the ceiling with her hand.

Tifa came into the room and scolded her, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts.

"Cut that out, Yuffie! I don't need you to pop another air mattress!"

Yuffie stopped her bouncing and pouted.

"Meanie"

Tifa just ignored her and looked at Mikomi.

"How are you doing? You feel any better than before?"

She was really concerned over her chakra depletion from before; she made sure she took a long nap and had a huge portion of dinner.

Mikomi just gave her a small smile.

The martial artist really reminded her of her mom.

"I'm fine. I'm good as new, but thank you for worrying"

Tifa just gave her a smile.

"That's good to hear"

Cloud passed by to head for his room.

"Night, Cloud" Marlene said.

Cloud just gave her a nod in return.

His eyes landed on Mikomi for a moment.

She gave him a small wave while she looked at him uneasy.

"_I swear to god, he looks just like dad" _She thought.

"_It's not fair"_

She couldn't hate him for looking like her dead father, but whenever she saw him, it just tore her up inside.

Cloud must have felt the same way about her because he immediately looked away and went back to his room.

Tifa put her hands on her hips as she looked at her boyfriend darkly.

"Damn it, Cloud" she muttered.

She turned back to Mikomi and gave her an apologetic grin.

"Sorry about Cloud. He tends to be moody most of the time"

Mikomi just waved it off.

"It's fine. I'm sure he's still trying to get over the fact that he found a strange girl from a different world. I know I would be like that if it happened to me"

Tifa just smiled softly at her.

Yuffie jumped on her bed and faced her.

"Hey! Can you do that whip trick of yours again tomorrow? I thought that was really cool!"

Tifa was about to protest, fearing that it would drain Mikomi again, but the Leaf ninja stopped her.

"That's fine. I need to practice controlling that technique anyway. It's been a long time since I last used it"

Yuffie sighed wistfully.

"You're so lucky. You get to pull off those cool techniques without using any materia."

She pulled out a random materia that she always kept on her and looked at it.

"I thought I was the strongest ninja in the whole world- or at least this world, but after seeing you perform those tricks, I'm having second thoughts"

Mikomi eyed the materia that Yuffie was holding.

"Hey, that looks like that strange orb I came with"

She pulled it out from under her pillow and examined it.

"I don't know what materia is or how you even use it"

Yuffie laughed as Mikomi tried to look for a switch on it.

"That's not how you use materia. It's made out of magic, so you won't find any switch"

She jabbed a thumb to her chest in a proud manner.

"I just so happen to be the best materia user in all of Gaia. I know about every single type of materia and how it's used"

Mikomi giggled and gave her a mock bow.

"It's an honor to be sitting next to a materia master"

Tifa snorted as she sat on the bed.

"Wow, Yuffie. You have an admirer"

Yuffie wore a proud grin across her face.

"I know. I am awesome"

Mikomi giggled.

"Say, Yuffie. Is there any chance that you can show me how to use Materia?"

She needed to know how to work the materia that she found. It was her only way to return home.

"_I need to get back home and return to Naruto"_

Yuffie's grin spread even farther.

"I sure can! With my teaching, you'll be the best materia user ever, well, second best. But I'll do it under one condition"

"What?"

"You have to show me how to use that Chakra magic that you used earlier. I want to perform tricks like that!"

Mikomi just laughed.

"Sure, I don't see why not"

"Are you crazy?! You're going to train a stranger the way we fight? Are you asking to get us killed?"

"_Relax, Usagi. I'm not going to teach her anything too serious. I'll just show her the basics, nothing more"_

Yuffie jumped in her seat with excitement.

"Yay! I'll get to be a better ninja!"

"And I'll finally learn how to use Materia"

Yuffie grabbed her hands and held them tightly.

"I take that this is going to be a beautiful friendship"

That took Mikomi off guard.

"Friends?" She asked.

Being a Jinchuriki meant that she didn't have a lot of friends.

She had Kakashi and her Anbu squad, but most of them considered her as their captain rather than their friend.

Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah, we're friends. Don't you have any friends back where you're from?"

Mikomi slowly shook her head.

"You don't have a lot of friends from where I'm from. You either die from a mission or your friend does"

She wasn't going to tell them the real reason why she didn't have any friends.

"It's not like you're lying anyway. You're just stretching the truth"

Tifa gave her a tight hug.

"You poor thing. We'll be your friends"

Yuffie hugged her too.

"Yeah! We finally have a 3rd female in our group. We'll be a trio! We'll be best friends!"

Denzel and Marlene jumped on the bed.

"Don't forget about us!"

Mikomi gave them a gentle smile.

"How could I forget about you guys? I'll be your friend too"

The children smiled and hugged her in return.

Tifa suddenly yawned.

"Well, I'm going to head for bed. We have a long day at the bar tomorrow"

Everyone said good-night to her as she left.

Yuffie got on her make shift bed and pulled the covers over her head.

She looked at Mikomi one last time and gave her a smile.

"Good night, Ninja buddy"

Mikomi cracked a grin.

"Good night, Yuffie"

The lights were turned off and left everyone in darkness.

Mikomi held wolfy to her chest and closed her eyes with a smile on her face.

She was here for barley a day and she already made friends.

She was on cloud 9 with this happiness that she was feeling.

"_My first actual friends. I haven't felt this feeling a long time. It feels nice"_

"I feel all warm and fuzzy inside right about now. I'm so happy for you Mikomi"

She fell asleep with the feeling of being belonged for the first time in ages.

* * *

**A/N: Aww, Mikomi made some friends, and what better friends to have than Tifa and Yuffie? I hope you liked this semi- sweet chapter. This just shows that their starting to accept her as a member of their make shift family.**

**Remember to review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	6. Cutie Pie

Chapter 6: Cutie Pie

**A/N: I finally came up with a chapter for this story. As strange as it sounds, my dog gave me this chapter idea. I'm sure you can guess what it's going to be about. Thanks Roxy! (My dog)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Yuffie had been very helpful as Mikomi's Materia teacher. She was able how to use them within a day. And to show her thanks, she showed Yuffie how use Chakra for some minor tricks.

"_It's the least I can do since she helped me out"_

"Whatever, just don't overdo it. This world doesn't use chakra so you could be messing with this world's cycle of life or something"

"_You're over thinking this, Usagi"_

Needless to say, Mikomi became an expert at Materia, or at least semi-expert. She still had the tendency to add chakra to her Materia and caused the orbs to explode. But at least she was learning.

* * *

Tifa put the last of the dishes away from breakfast.

Cid and Barret were over again, so they had a huge meal.

Yuffie spun around the bar stool that she was sitting on and watched Mikomi help Tifa out.

The ninja was drying off the dishes and handing them to Tifa to put away.

"You know you don't have to do this, Mikomi. You're the guest"

Mikomi shrugged and just dried a glass.

"I don't mind. You've let me stay here for the past week so it's only fair that I help out with everything. This is my way of saying thank you"

Tifa grinned.

"Well at least someone is considerate"

She glared at Cid, Barret and Yuffie.

"Unlike you guys"

Cid waved her off.

"Relax, we help you out with other things so don't get your pants in a knot"

Tifa just sighed and went back to helping Mikomi out.

* * *

The bell to the front door jingled as someone came inside.

"Sorry, we're not open today" Tifa said as she put the last of the dishes away.

"Aw, you won't even let your friends in?" a Scottish voice said.

Tifa turned around and found Cat Sith and Red Xlll.

Her face lit up when she saw their animal companions.

"Hey you guys! How have you been?"

Cat Sith jumped off of Red's back and climbed up a bar stool.

"Things have been good. Reeve is busy as always, but that's nothing new"

"Everyone in cosmos canyon is doing fine" Red Xlll said.

"We came here to see how your little guest is doing"

Mikomi came to the front when she heard voices.

"Is there a customer, Tifa?"

"No, just a couple friends of ours"

"Oh?"

She walked out from the bar and spotted the two animals.

"Mikomi, these are our friends, Cat Sith and Red Xlll. You saw them when you first came here, but I doubt you would remember since you were kind of out of it"

Cat Sith waved to her.

"Hey there, lassie! We came to check up on you and see how you were doing"

"And we wanted to introduce ourselves properly" Red Xlll added.

Mikomi just looked at the animals.

She focused more on Red Xlll than Cat Sith at the moment.

Her mind seemed to go on shut down mode as she looked at the canine.

If anyone who knew Mikomi, they would know that she was a huge animal lover.

They would also know that she would flip out every time she saw dogs.

Why? Because she was crazy about them.

And that was a scary thing to watch.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at the canine.

Red Xlll grew a little uneasy at the way she was looking at him.

"Um…is everything alright?"

She suddenly squealed and knelt down to hug him.

"Oh my god! You are so cute!"

Everyone had a 'what the hell?' look on their faces.

Mikomi giggled as she cuddled Red.

"You are such a cutie! How could I have not spotted you when I woke up?"

She let him go slightly and rubbed his fur.

"You have such soft fur. And it's such a pretty color"

She examined him a bit.

"What kind of dog are you anyway? Irish shepherd? Doberman?"

Red was flustered by Mikomi's sudden show of affection.

Normally, when you meet someone, you're suppose to say 'hi' or give them a wave, but she just suddenly came up and hugged him.

He didn't mind it, he simply wasn't use to it.

"I-I'm not a dog actually. I'm a rare kind of beast"

Mikomi's eyes widen.

"Wow, that's amazing. You must be pretty special if you're this cute"

She started scratching him behind the ears.

Red really enjoyed this and leaned in more.

His foot thumped slightly as he kicked it to show his enjoyment.

"Aww, you like being scratched behind the ears?"

She started rubbing his belly as he rolled over.

"Aww, who's a good boy?" she cooed.

Red kept kicking his leg as Mikomi kept rubbing him.

He had never been treated this way before and he enjoyed it.

Normally, AVALANCE would give him a pat on the head or something like that, but they never gave him a belly rub.

Tifa just giggled as she saw the look on Red's face.

"It looks like Red made a new friend" Cid said.

Yuffie just snorted at the scene.

She thought it was funny that Red would act this way in front of them.

Cat Sith got jealous.

"Hey! What about me?"

Mikomi stopped her rubbing and looked at the little cat.

"Does someone want to be loved too?"

She held her arms out to him.

"Come here little guy"

Cat Sith jumped into her arms and enjoyed being cuddled.

"You guys are so cute!" Mikomi said.

She rubbed her face against Cat Sith's.

"I can't believe you have such cute little friends. I'm jealous now"

She tickled the cat's belly.

"I wish we had animals like you from where I'm from. All we have are some mangy ninja dogs and a few tabby cats. None of them are as cute as you guys"

"When Pakkun hears about this, he's going to kill you"

She stood up and sat in one of the booths. She held Cat Sith like he was a teddy bear and rubbed his head.

Red walked over and plopped his head in her lap.

He knew he wasn't acting like his normal self, but he really enjoyed being scratched like that.

It proved that even he could act like a normal animal as well.

Mikomi picked Cat Sith up by his paws and let him dangle around is if he were a monkey.

"I've never seen a talking cat that can walk on two feet. Normally, cats usually walk on all fours"

Cat Sith laughed.

"That's where I'm different, lassie. I'm not really a cat"

Mikomi tilted her head.

"You're not?"

"Nope"

He flipped out of her grip and landed on the table.

"I am actually a robot made a man named Reeve. He can see whatever I see and gather information this way"

Mikomi lowered her head so she was eyelevel with the feline.

"So…you're like a spy?"

"Well…spy is a little harsh. I'm just used to gather info on things"

"Does this mean that this Reeve guy knows about me?"

"Yep, but he promises not to say anything about it. He doesn't want to cause a commotion for you"

"That's good to know"

Yuffie's stomach suddenly growled.

"Damn it, Yuffie. Can't you make your stomach quieter?" Cid barked.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's not my fault that its lunch time and that I'm starving"

Tifa headed for the kitchen.

"I'll go make us some sandwiches then"

Mikomi got up as well with Cat Sith perched on her shoulder.

"I'll help you"

She followed the martial artist into the kitchen.

Red Xlll was fast on her heels as he followed her.

Yuffie snickered.

"He's like a baby chick chasing his momma"

Barret shook his head and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Red sure is one strange animal"

Cid grabbed the hand that was offered to him.

"That's for damn sure"

* * *

Tifa and Mikomi came out with plate full of sandwiches.

"Hope you guys are hungry" Tifa said.

Mikomi set the plates down and sat in the booth with Yuffie.

The Wutai ninja jumped up and down as her new buddy sat next to her.

"Aww, you made me lunch? You're so sweet"

She hugged her tightly.

"It's no wonder why you're my ninja buddy"

Mikomi just let Yuffie hug her. It was better than struggling with her.

Cat Sith jumped on the table and picked up a sandwich.

The snack looked huge compared to the little cat.

Mikomi giggled and cut the sandwich in half for him.

"There you go. That way you won't have a hard time trying to hold your sandwich while you ate it"

Cat Sith grinned at her and sat down in front of her.

He ate his tuna fish sandwich while Mikomi picked up a ham and cheese one.

Just as she was about to eat it, she felt a weight on her lap.

She looked down to see Red resting his head on her lap.

"Awww, do you want some too?"

She broke off a piece of her sandwich and gave it to Red.

"Here you go"

Red scarfed the piece of food right away and went back to resting in her lap.

She rubbed his head as she ate.

"You are such a cutie" she said.

"But why is your name Red Xlll?"

"That's not actually my real name. It's was given to me when I was captured before. I'm really called Nanaki"

"Then I'll call you Nanaki" Mikomi said.

She rubbed his head again.

He really was a cutie pie.

Cat Sith was adorable as well.

* * *

The 2 animals stayed with her for the remainder of the day. It was nice to be treated special.

Mikomi sure had a way with animals, she would pet them and love them in ways that AVALANCHE wouldn't. She made them feel loved and that was special to them.

Over all, this is how Mikomi befriended the two animals within AVALANCHE.

* * *

**A/N: (sweat drops) I know this wasn't really good, but I wanted to update this story. I didn't know how to describe Mikomi befriending Cat Sith and Red Xlll so please bear with me.**

**Remember to review!**

**Ja ne**


	7. Getting Along

Chapter 7: Getting Along

**A/N: Hi there! This chapter goes along with the chapter 'I'm not her, ok?' from the main story. Let's see how things happened after Mikomi talked to Cloud. **

**Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I had writers block!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi and Usagi.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"Usagi Talking"

**Enjoy!**

/

Mikomi sat in the bar the next morning.

It was the day after she had that little talk with Cloud.

The blond talked to her a little at dinner after she talked to him, but it wasn't much.

She thought that he would be more open after she told him that she was nothing like Aerith.

"These things take some time" Usagi said.

Mikomi just sighed.

The fox did have a point.

Tifa came into the bar with lunch in hand.

"You're awfully quiet" she said as she handed Mikomi a sandwich.

Mikomi gave her a small smile as she took the food.

"It's a little too early for me" she said.

"Plus, it feels weird without everyone here"

Tifa had to admit that things were quiet at the bar.

Everyone was out doing something today, which just left, Mikomi, Cloud and Tifa at the bar.

Barret had taken Denzel and Marlene to the park for the day, so the kids weren't around.

"I'm sure everyone will be over for dinner today" the martial artist said.

"I'm making Swiss steak"

Over the week, Mikomi had talked with her about things that they liked.

Since they both liked Swiss steak so much, Tifa decided to make it tonight.

Mikomi grinned at that.

"I look forward to it"

Tifa grinned.

"That's good"

After Mikomi finished her lunch, she took her plate.

"I'll be working in the back, so if you need me, just give me a call"

Mikomi nodded.

"Then I'll keep an eye on things here"

With that, Tifa headed towards the kitchen.

/

When the martial artist left, Mikomi sighed.

Since there was nothing to do, she was bored.

"_These are one of the times I wish I had a mission" _she thought.

She pulled out a picture from the back of her pocket and looked at it.

It was the photo that she took with her dad and their teammates.

She always smiled when she looked at it.

Since Minato was so protective of her, he refused to let anyone be her sensei but him. He claimed that since he was the Hokage, that he knew all that there was to be a ninja.

Everyone was grinning in the picture.

Minato wore his trade mark grin as he had his hands on Kakashi and Obito's heads.

The two boys stood near the end while Mikomi stood in the middle.

This was the last time they were seen as a team before all hell broke loose.

A week after the picture was taken; they had that mission to destroy the bridge near the border so the earth ninja couldn't get through.

They were able to succeed, but they lost Obito in the process.

That was the first time Mikomi had ever lost someone who was dear to her.

He was her first real friend from when she came to the village and became Minato and Kushina's daughter.

She felt so guilty for his death, but she figured that Kakashi felt even worse.

He felt that it was his fault that Obito died when it should have been him.

She never blamed him for what happened and she was sure her dad felt the same way.

As she looked at her father's face, she frowned slightly.

While Kakashi felt it was his fault that Obito died, she felt it was her fault that her dad died.

When the nine tailed fox attacked the village, he did what any Hokage would do and fought with the beast.

If she knew what would happen after he sealed the fox and Usagi inside her and Naruto, she would have told him not to do it.

If she had been stronger, then her dad would still be here.

Sure, she was only 6 at the time, but back then, the village expected a lot from children her age.

"_It doesn't matter what age you are. A ninja is still a ninja, and they have to protect their village"_

She twirled the photo between her fingers and a lazy manner.

She was so bored; she didn't know what to do.

She figured Usagi would be able to talk to her.

"_Hey, Usagi. Talk to me"_

The only response she got was Usagi snoring, which told her that she wasn't up.

She sweat dropped at that.

"Stupid" she mumbled to her inner beast.

"Who's stupid?"

Mikomi jumped when she heard Cloud.

She didn't realize that he had come down for the day.

As she tried to keep herself from falling off her seat, she accidentally let go of her photo.

She panicked when it flutter to the bar table and landed next to Cloud.

The blond picked it up and looked at it.

He didn't say anything as he looked at the figures, which made Mikomi slightly uneasy.

Even though they had their talk last night, he still wasn't really talking to her.

He looked up from the photo and looked at her.

"Is this your dad?" he asked.

Mikomi nodded slowly.

"It was" she said quietly.

"But not anymore"

Cloud remembered that she said her dad died when she was young.

He sat on one of the stools that was next to her and handed her photo back.

"Then are the two boys in the picture your teammates?"

Mikomi nodded.

"Yep. I was the youngest one in the group. Kakashi and Obito were a few years older than me when I joined their team"

She showed who was who and told Cloud a little about them.

"Kakashi is currently my younger brother's sensei. He's really good at what he does and he's a skilled ninja. Everyone wants to be like him"

"What about Obito?"

He didn't know why he was asking her all of these things, but he figured he had to converse with her somehow.

Since he didn't bother to know anything about her, then this could be a start.

He had to be nice to her somehow.

Mikomi gave him a weak smile.

"He died during one of the ninja wars. We were fighting with the earth village at the time. Our mission was supposed to destroy the bridge that connected the two villages together. While that was happening, I got abducted by a few earth ninjas and Kakashi and Obito came to save me. There was a big fight, and Obito died from it"

A tear ran down her face.

"He died because he was trying to save me" she said.

"If I had just been more alterative, if I hadn't been abducted…then maybe he would have still been alive"

Cloud didn't say anything as he heard all of this.

He never realized until now how similar she was to him.

He had lost his best friend, Zack because he was trying to protect him.

She must have felt the same way as he did when he lost his closest comrade.

The feeling of losing someone so dear…the realization that you were the one who caused it…it was unbearable.

No amount of physical pain could compare to that kind of feeling.

Mikomi quickly wiped away her tears.

"Sorry about that" she said.

"A ninja isn't supposed to show their emotions. And I promised Obito that I wouldn't cry"

She gave him a weak smile.

"Even though I feel like it's my fault that he's dead, I promised him that I wouldn't be sad and that I would live my life to the fullest. If he couldn't live his life, then I decided to live it for him."

That struck Cloud's heart.

He had made a similar promise to Zack before he died.

He swore that he would live out both their lives, but in the end, he could only seclude himself from everyone else and mourn for the loss of his friend.

Mikomi seemed to notice his reaction and frowned.

"Uh…did I say something wrong?"

Cloud shook his head.

"No" he said quietly.

"What you said reminded me of a promise I couldn't keep to a friend"

Mikomi tilted her head.

"Oh?"

Cloud looked at her for a moment.

Now that he looked at her, he could see all the pain and conflict she had faced over the years.

He would think that it would wither her spirit, but instead, it just made her stronger and more vibrant.

Something that he never could be.

He looked away and rests his head on his hands.

"I had a best friend back when I work with Shin-Ra" he began.

"His name was Zack Fair, and he was part of the SOULDIER unit"

He slowly began his tale about his best friend, Zack and about how he gave his life to save his.

It was painful to talk about, but he figured it was painful for her to talk about her best friend's death.

Mikomi listened to Cloud's story vigorously.

She never said anything, but Cloud could tell that she was listening from the way that she was looking at him.

She was amazed that he would share something so personal to her of all people.

She felt that this was a big step for him to trust her and see her as a friend.

She had tears running down her face when he finished his story.

She had no idea he had suffered so much.

It was no wonder he was to distant towards everyone, including herself.

"I'm so sorry" she said.

"Why are you sorry?" Cloud asked.

"It's not like you were the one who killed him"

Mikomi bit her lip.

"I know but…I just feel so bad. No one should live through that"

"You did" Cloud pointed out.

"I'm a ninja. Stuff like that happens on a normal basis from where I'm from"

Cloud didn't say anything to that.

"It doesn't matter" he said quietly.

"He's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it"

"Of course there is" Mikomi said.

Cloud looked at her strangely.

Mikomi just patted him on the arm.

"Said that you were going to live out both your lives, right?" she asked.

Cloud slowly nodded.

"Well, then what are you waiting for? Life isn't going to wait for you to do stuff"

She grinned slightly.

"I know I don't have any right to tell you how you should live your life. But from what you told me about Zack, I would think that he would want you to be anything but gloomy. If it were me, I would be mad that the person I sacrificed my life for was living their life by being down and excluding themselves from everyone"

She rubbed her head as she laughed nervously.

"I'm not saying do anything crazy like sky-diving, but do something other than being gloomy and hiding from everyone"

She sweat dropped when she realized she said too much.

"Eh…sorry about that" she said.

"I tend to speak my mind a bit and get carried away"

Cloud shook his head.

She did have a point.

He knew that if Zack were still around, he would be pissed that Cloud was just living his life by staying away from his friends.

"No, you're right" he said.

When he looked at her, he wasn't wearing his usual emotionless expression.

His eyes held a sincere look as he stared at her.

He never realized this girl who he found about a week ago would make him realize that the way that he was living wasn't right.

Now that he thought about it, he really didn't treat Mikomi nicely since she came here.

She had done nothing to him, but he gave her the cold shoulder.

He couldn't blame it by saying she looked a lot like Aerith.

He knew now that she was the polar opposite from her.

When while Aerith was more girly, Mikomi acted more like a tom boy.

He felt like crap.

"I owe you an apology" he said.

Mikomi looked confused.

"For what?"

"For treating you like crap when you first came here. You didn't deserve that. So, I want to say I'm sorry"

Mikomi just chuckled as she waved him off.

"Since you're talking to me, I forgive you" she said.

"Although, I never blamed you. I'm sure if I found some random person from a different world, I would be a little freaked out as well. You don't have to apologize, but I accept it"

The side of Cloud's mouth twitched slightly to show that he was smiling.

That was the only way he showed he was happy.

Mikomi placed her head in her hand.

"You don't talk much, do you?" she said.

Cloud shrugged.

"I'm not a talkative person" he replied.

"That's not good" Mikomi said.

"I'm used to chatterboxes, thanks to my brother. Anyone who's quiet just makes me uneasy"

Cloud raised an eyebrow at her.

"You would rather be around someone like Yuffie?"

Mikomi grinned.

"Think of it this way" she said.

"She's a lot calmer than my younger brother, Naruto"

Cloud highly doubted that.

There was no way that there was someone out there who was way hyper than Yuffie.

"I highly doubt that" he said.

Mikomi gave him a playful pout.

"Oh please. You don't know half of the stuff that my brother does. I swear, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten arrested for some of the things that he's done"

Cloud looked at her skeptically.

"What could he have done that is so bad"

Mikomi tapped her face.

"Well…."

/

Tifa came from the back of the bar with dinner in hand.

"Guys, dinner's ready" she said.

"I hope you guys are hun-"

She stopped when she saw Cloud and Mikomi.

Her eyes nearly bugged out when she saw that they were actually talking with each other.

Well, it was mostly Mikomi talking, but Cloud would say a few things.

A smile graced her face as she saw this.

She was glad that Cloud was finally accepting Mikomi and treating her nicely.

Mikomi smiled when she saw Tifa.

"Hey, Tifa. Do you need help?"

Tifa shook her head.

"No, I got everything" she said.

She smiled brightly at them.

"I'm glad to see that you two are getting along now"

Mikomi giggled as she wrapped her arm around Cloud's shoulder.

"Yep! We're buddies now!"

Cloud just gently shoved her away, but he wore a small grin on his face.

Tifa was surprised by this.

Cloud never smiled.

She looked at Mikomi in amazement.

"_This girl is something else" _she thought.

For the remainder of the night, the three of them conversed and talked with each other.

As Cloud looked at Mikomi, he never realized how deeply he would be tied into her life until much later on.

/

**A/N: So that's how Cloud and Mikomi became better friends. Hope it wasn't too bad.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	8. New Clothes

Chapter 8: New Clothes

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sure everyone can tell what this chapter is about. Mikomi gets a new wardrobe during her stay in Gaia. And just for the record, this takes place after the chapter 'Never fear, Pakkun's here'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7, I just own Mikomi.**

**Enjoy!**

/

For the past two days, it had been raining nonstop in Edge.

Since that was happening, Cloud couldn't do his deliveries.

He claimed that it would be bad for his bike, but Mikomi figured that he just didn't want to get wet.

Since they chatted a few days ago, he started to open up more towards her.

He didn't realize how nice it felt to have someone understand his pain until then.

Even when he didn't give her all of the details to his past, she would still listen and tell him about her life as a ninja.

He had to admit, she was really good for talking to.

She didn't judge him or think poorly of him.

"Shit happens" she would always say.

She was currently helping him stack up the deliveries to his bike.

Since it stopped raining, he had to work twice as hard and delver everything twice as fast.

"I can help you out if you want" Mikomi offered.

Cloud just watched as she carried a rather heavy package with one arm.

"_How in the world is she doing that?" _he thought.

Pakkun sat next to him on the porch as he watched his master.

"It's a ninja thing" he said.

"You have to be extremely strong in order to fight of tougher enemies. Otherwise you're as good as dead"

When Mikomi put the last of the packages on Cloud's bike, she looked at him.

She wiped the sweat off her brow from all the hard work she did.

"That should be the last of them" she said.

Cloud nodded his head in thanks.

"I probably won't be home until later tonight" he said.

He sighed in annoyance.

Even though he hated this job, it put food on the table.

Mikomi looked at his stressed out look and frowned.

He shouldn't be doing all of this.

"Why don't you have me help you out" she offered.

"I can take care of the deliveries around here while you take care of the ones that are farther away"

Cloud just shook his head.

"Thanks, but I got it" he said.

"You're our guest, so you shouldn't be doing stuff like this"

Plus, he didn't want her to get hurt.

There were monsters out there, and he didn't know if she could defend herself.

Not only that, Sephiroth was out there.

There was no way that he was going to let Mikomi get anywhere near that mass murderer.

Mikomi just waved him off.

"Please, it's the least I can do since you've been putting up with me for a week" she said.

"Besides, do you really want be out that long doing deliveries?"

Cloud just looked at her dully.

He highly doubted that she could take care of the deliveries around here.

Pakkun just looked at him.

"Just go with it" he said.

"You're not going to win in an argument with her, she won't take no for an answer"

Cloud sweat dropped.

"_Gee, that sounds like Tifa"_

He just looked at her, while she had her hands on her hips.

"Well? What's it going to be?" she asked.

"Do you want help? Or do you want to be doing this until midnight?"

Cloud looked at her and just sighed.

"_I know I'm going_ _to regret this" he_ thought.

He pulled off the smaller packages that had to be sent here around town and handed them to her.

"These need to be delivered at the south end of town" he said.

"The addresses should be on the boxes, so you shouldn't have any trouble"

Mikomi grinned and took them from him.

"Don't worry; I'll get this done in a jiff"

She walked off the porch and started heading down the street.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at her.

Didn't she realize that the places she had to go were like 15 miles down?

There was no way she would get there on time by foot.

"You know, you're not going to get there on time by-"

Just then, she performed yellow flash and zipped down the street.

"Foot" Cloud finished.

Pakkun just looked at him.

"Her dad was known as the yellow flash back in her village" he said.

"She's the fastest ninja in Konoha"

Just then, Mikomi zipped back and looked at Cloud.

"Um…which way is South?"

Cloud sweat dropped and pointed towards the right direction.

"Oh, thanks!"

She zipped down the right direction.

"And the worst when it comes to directions" Pakkun added.

Cloud just held the bridge of his nose.

"This is not going to end well"

/

Twenty minutes later, Cloud had finished all of his deliveries.

He had to admit, that Mikomi helped him out greatly.

He was able to get to where he had to go and be on his merry way.

If he had done the ones in Edge, that would have taken him longer.

The people around here liked to haggle and try to get a low price.

He simply hated it when they did that.

He understood everyone was trying to get over METEOR and that they didn't have enough money, but he was in the same situation as well.

"_Plus, my prices aren't even expensive" _he thought.

Tifa came over to give him a drink.

She looked around to see that Mikomi was still not back.

She was starting to grow worried.

"You don't think she got lost or something, do you?"

She tended to be a worry wart over her.

Since she was their guest, that meant she was responsible for her.

Now that she mentioned it, Cloud was wondering where she was too.

The places weren't that far from the bar, so she couldn't get lost.

So what was the hold up?

He stood up from his seat.

"I'll go look for her" he said.

Just as he was about to step outside, Mikomi came in.

She covered in dirt and looked slightly wet.

"Mikomi, what happened to you?" Tifa asked.

Mikomi laughed nervously as she rubbed her head.

"EH…I was on my way home, but a car past me and splashed mud on me. I didn't want to walk in here and track mud, so I waited until my clothes got dry"

Pakkun sweat dropped at his master.

"Please tell me you brought extra clothes when you went on your mission" he said.

Mikomi waved him off.

"Of course I did. What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

She walked upstairs to go change out of her dirty clothes.

Pakkun shook his head at his master's stupidity.

"She's a genius when it comes to the battle field, but when it comes to regular things, she's oblivious"

She came down a few minutes later wearing her standardized Jonin uniform.

It looked just like Kakashi's only she didn't wear the vest.

Tifa looked at the outfits skeptically when she came down.

"That's your spare outfit?" she asked.

Mikomi nodded and she fixed the sleeves on her shirt.

"Yeah, this is the standard uniform in my village. I don't like to wear it, but I only have it in case my clothes are ruined"

"Didn't you bring anything else?" Tifa asked.

Mikomi shook her head.

"I was only going to be gone for a week on my mission" she said.

"But since I wound up on this world, this is all I have"

Tifa placed her hands on her hips.

Cloud knew that gesture didn't like what was going to happen.

"That outfit is unacceptable in this bar" she said.

She walked out from behind the bar area and dragged her upstairs.

"I'll loan you something to wear" she said.

"Then we're going clothes shopping"

Mikomi's eyes bugged out.

If there was one thing she hated, it was clothes shopping.

Ever since she was little, Yuri would pick out such frilly outfits for her to wear.

She had nightmares of the lacy monstrosities.

"I-I'm fine, really" she said.

"I have clothes; they just need to be washed"

Tifa gave her a skeptical look.

"One outfit does not count as clothes" she said.

"And this uniform doesn't count as an outfit"

She tugged up the steps and into the living quarters.

"We'll just have to get you a few pairs of outfits so you're not wearing the same thing over and over again"

She went into her closet and pulled out an outfit for her.

"Here we go, this should fit on you"

She gave her the outfit she wore during the time when METEOR and Sephiroth were about to destroy the planet.

This outfit held a lot of memories, but she figured that Mikomi needed them more than she did.

Mikomi looked at the outfit for a sec before looking at Tifa.

The martial artist just gave her a look and pushed her towards the bathroom.

"We'll leave as soon as you're ready" she said.

Mikomi started stuttering.

"B-but-"

"No buts! Now go get changed"

She closed the door on her and waited until she got changed.

Mikomi groaned as she slipped on the white shirt.

She knew that this was going to be a long day.

/

"Gee, this is going to be so much fun, 'Komi-chan!"

Tifa had called Yuffie to join them on their little shopping trip.

The Wutai ninja just jumped up and down as she enjoyed spending time with her ninja buddy.

Mikomi was beat red as she walked down the streets.

The outfit that Tifa had let her borrow was way to revealing.

She had to keep pulling the skirt down, fearing that it would ride up and show things.

Tifa just giggled at Mikomi.

She looked so cute when she was embarrassed.

She made a mental list of outfits that she thought would work best with Mikomi.

'_She doesn't appear to be the dress type. And she doesn't like anything that's frilly or too girly'_

They made it to the clothing store and stepped inside.

Mikomi had to shield her eyes from the bright lights.

She had never stepped into a clothing store before.

She usually got her outfits and special outlet stores that sold the standard village uniform.

As she looked around, she was amazed by how many colors she saw.

There were so many outfits and so many shades of the same color, that Mikomi almost felt that she was in a crayon box.

"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" Usagi said.

Tifa pulled her over to a pile of clothing and started looking for colors that would best suite her.

"_Judging from her regular outfit, she seems to like wearing red and black"_

She pulled out a few outfits with that color scheme and handed them to Mikomi.

"Go try these on and see which ones you like" she said.

She pushed her towards the dressing room and closed the door behind her.

Mikomi looked at the door for a second, then at the pile of clothes in her arms.

She dropped them on the floor and picked up and outfit that she thought looked normal.

It was pair of black gauchos and a red tank top.

"_Well, these are as close as to my regular outfit as I'm going to get" _she thought.

She slipped into the outfit and looked into the mirror.

She had to admit, she did look good in them, but Tifa and Yuffie had the final say.

She opened the door and showed her friends her outfit.

"Well? What do you think?"

Yuffie was smiling.

"That is totally you, 'Komi-chan"

Tifa wore a know it all smirk.

"I should have known that you would head for that outfit" she said.

Mikomi blushed slightly.

"I'm a creature of habit" she admitted.

Tifa just shrugged.

"Well, at least I know what to get you" she said.

Mikomi nodded and closed the door to get changed again.

She figured that she would get just the one outfit, but it seemed like Tifa had other ideas.

/

"Tifa! Are you insane?"

Mikomi's eyes were bugged out as she looked at all of the shopping bags that Tifa was carrying.

The martial artist had to have at least nearly bought half of the store.

Mikomi was flipping out.

She had no idea how much she spent on her.

Tifa and Yuffie were laughing at her expression.

"Relax, Mikomi. We didn't spend that much"

Mikomi started sputtering.

"B-but, you just bought half the store! Do you know how much money you spent? You didn't have to that crazy on me! One outfit would have been fine!"

Tifa just wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, relax" she said.

"I wasn't going to let you get away with just one outfit. And besides, the people around here owe us a lot, so half of this stuff was free"

Mikomi remembered about the whole Sephiroth and METEOR thing.

She just didn't realize how big that was.

She slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"I don't know how I'm going to repay you" she said.

Tifa just waved her off.

"Please, you help out enough around the bar" she said.

"We'll call it even"

Mikomi looked at her.

"You sure?"

Tifa just nodded.

"Yep, and don't bring it up again, you hear?"

Mikomi nodded.

"Thank you" she said.

Tifa just smiled.

"Anytime"

They made it back to the bar and greeted Cloud when they went in.

Cloud took one look at the bags and shook his head.

"Girls" he said.

/

**A/N: I hoped you liked that. I thought it would be nice to show a little girl time between the female characters of our story.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	9. Sick Day

Chapter 9: Sick Day

**A/N: Hey everyone! Since I'm not really feeling good, I decided to do a little sick chapter to fit the theme. Hope your day is better than mine!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7; I just own Mikomi and Usagi.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Mornings were never on Mikomi's side growing up. That meant another day had started and she had to wake up from slumber land. Every day was the same; she would wake up feeling crabbier than ever, take forever to get ready and just feel like crap for the rest of the day.

Today would have been the same; however she felt crappier than usual when she woke up. Her chest felt like it was congested and her throat hurt like hell. She coughed a little when she couldn't breathe properly out of her nose since it was stuffy.

Groaning, she felt her forehead to find out that it was warm and clammy.

"_Great" _she thought.

Pakkun woke up from where he was sleeping and looked at his master. One look at her face told him she had a case of the chakra fever.

Charka fever was pretty much when the body is 'over heated' from using too much charka the day before. The charka system shuts down and leaves the user feeling crapier than ever. It wasn't contagious, so there wasn't the risk of anyone catching the fever.

Mikomi coughed harshly when she felt a tickle in her throat. She winched when she felt how sore her throat was.

The coughing made Denzel and Marlene wake up and see what was going on. Seeing their older sister figure holding a hand to her head made them get out of bed and jumping over Yuffie; who was sleeping on the ground to go on hers.

"What's wrong, Onee-chan?" Denzel asked.

Mikomi just gave them a weak smile.

"Nothing, I just have a little cough is all" she said.

Marlene got up from the bed and headed out of the room to go get Tifa.

Denzel placed his hand on Mikomi's forehead to see how warm it was.

Pakkun just looked at his master with pity. For as long as he knew her, Mikomi hardly got sick, let alone a cold. Whenever she did though, she felt like crap and was just downright miserable. It would take Minato and Kushina days just to make her better.

Marlene pulled Tifa into the room once she woke her up. The martial artist stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as the little girl pulled her into the room.

"What's going on, Marlene?" she asked.

When Marlene pointed to Mikomi, she quickly sobered up.

"Oh my!"

She quickly went over to the bed and started examine her friend.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"She's sick with the chakra fever" Pakkun said.

"She just overdid it with the Justus and now her body is overheated. It isn't contagious, but she's going to feel like crap for pretty much the rest of the day"

Tifa just shook her head sadly when she felt how warm Mikomi was.

"But how could this happen?" she asked.

"She wasn't performing any Justus while any of us were he-"

She stopped and glared at Yuffie, who was still sleeping. She kicked the air mattress that the Wutai ninja was on and caused her to wake up.

The young ninja looked startled as she looked around before looking at Tifa.

"What the heck was that for?" she asked annoyed.

Tifa just kept glaring at her.

"Yuffie! What have I told you about bugging Mikomi and using her Justus?" she snapped.

Yuffie flinched.

"To never ask her and to leave her alone since it drains her out?" she replied.

Tifa nodded.

"Right. But thanks to you not listening, Mikomi's gotten sick from over using her chakra!"

Yuffie gasped when she saw how bad Mikomi looked.

"Oh! 'Komi-chan!"

She jumped up and pulled her friend into a bear hug.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you could get sick from performing so many Justus! What kind of friend am I?"

Mikomi held her head as a headache started to form.

It had been so long since she had a chakra fever that she forgot how bad it made her feel.

Tifa pulled Yuffie off of her.

"Stop it! You're going to make it worse" she snapped.

A half asleep Cloud came by and leaned on the doorway.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked through a yawn.

"Mikomi has a fever thanks to Yuffie bugging her about using her Justus" Tifa explained.

Mikomi sneezed real harshly and held her head when it seemed to echo in her head.

Tifa fussed over her and checked her forehead again.

"I'll close the bar today" she said.

"The last thing you need is a noisy bar with loud drunks"

Mikomi shook her head slowly.

"It's fine" she rasped.

"I just need to take something and I should be fine. Just go ahead and open the bar"

Tifa shook her head.

"Uh-uh. Today is all about you" she said.

She gently pushed Mikomi back on the bed and pulled the covers over her.

"You just rest up and I'll see if I can find anything that'll help you with this fever of yours"

"I'll head back to the village and see if Yuri left any of her medicine back at the house" Pakkun added.

Yuffie sat on the side of her bed and jumped a little.

"Don't worry, 'Komi-chan! Since this is my fault that you got sick, I'll help you get better again!" she cried.

Tifa gave her a stern glare.

"Oh, no you don't" she said.

"You are going to be downstairs so you don't cause any trouble"

Yuffie crossed her arms in a pouting manner before stomping downstairs.

Cloud sighed and headed back to his room to get ready for the day.

Tifa brushed the hair out of Mikomi's face as she gave her a gentle smile.

"Don't worry about anything" she said.

"You just rest up and I'll take care of everything"

Mikomi gave her a weak smile. It felt so nice to have a friend like her.

Tifa patted her on the head before heading back into her room to get ready for the day.

Denzel and Marlene went up to her and gave her a hug.

"We'll take care of you, Onee-chan" Marlene said.

The Kunoichi gave the kids a weak smile.

"Thanks you guys" she said.

She stifled a yawn before falling asleep.

Hopefully taking a nap would make her feel better.

/

Unfortunately, a nap didn't do the trick. While Mikomi felt more energized, she still felt crappier than ever.

Tifa allowed her to sit in the bar since she figured the poor girl didn't want to be trapped in a small room all day. The martial artist slid a glass of orange juice and a few pain relievers for her.

"This should help with your headache" she said.

Mikomi thanked her and downed the pills and drink before resting her head in her hands.

Cloud patted her on the head as he passed by to take a seat. He had to admit that Mikomi looked so out of character with the pale, clammy skin and the blood shot eyes.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

Mikomi simply shrugged.

"Ok I guess…or at least as ok for someone who's sick" she said.

She gave him a tired stare.

"But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out doing deliveries?"

Cloud shrugged and took a sip of his coffee.

"I decided to take the day off" he said.

"Since everyone is doing it, I thought I would too"

Yuffie popped her head through the ordering window that lead into the kitchen.

"Yeah right!" she said.

"You just didn't want to because you're lazy and because you were worried about 'Komi-chan!"

Cloud gave her a dull glare and flipped her off.

Mikomi blinked a few times.

Did Cloud really skip work because he was worried about her? It seemed like he really was starting to treat her as a comrade.

She gave him a weak smile and gave his arm a squeeze.

"Thanks, Cloud"

The chocobo head didn't say anything. Instead, he looked away so she wouldn't see the light blush that was dusting his cheeks.

The sound of the door opening made them turn around to see the rest of AVALANCHE coming in.

Tifa came to the front and gave her friends a weak smile.

"Hi guys, but we're closed today" she said.

"Mikomi's sick"

The guys took a glance at Mikomi and came right over.

Mikomi sweat dropped when Barret placed his normal hand on her forehead while Red Xlll and Cat Sith hung off of her.

Cid grimaced as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth.

"Man Mikomi, you look like hell" he said.

Mikomi laughed weakly.

"That odd, because I feel like crap" she said.

Tifa laughed a little too before rounding on Cid.

"Cid! Put that cigarette out!" she snapped.

"Mikomi has a sore throat and you smoking is just going to make it worse!"

Cid grumbled before putting out his beloved cigarette.

"You really should lighten up on the death sticks, Cid" Cloud said.

"With the way you're smoking, you're going to kill yourself"

Cid just waved them off.

"Don't you be worrying about me" he said.

"As if I'll keel over because of a little tobacco. You just worry about Mikomi"

As if on cue, the kunoichi sneeze hard, causing her to wince when she felt her throat burn.

"Where is Pakkun with my medication?" she asked herself.

The pug magically appeared through a puff of smoke with a scroll in his mouth.

"Found it!" he said through the scroll.

He dropped it on the table and nudged it open with his nose.

"I don't know where she put it in here, but I'm sure you would know what it would look like" he said.

Mikomi took it from him and unrolled it.

"Let's see what remedies she has here" she said.

"Hangover, hangover, poison, hangover, headache, hangover, poison, hangover. God, why does she have so much hangover remedies?"

"Have you not met Yuri?" Pakkun asked.

Mikomi finally found the remedy for chakra fever, but frowned when she saw that it was in a powder state.

"Out of all the bizarre remedies that I refuse to take, the one I need is not even done" she groaned.

Pakkun took the bottle from her.

"Don't worry, I'll fix this" he said.

"I'm sure you just need to add it in water or something"

The pug went into the kitchen to fix up her medicine while said ninja had her head on the table.

"God I hate being sick" she muttered.

Barret patted her on the back, causing her to flinched when he did it too hard.

"Don't feel bad, kiddo" he said.

"I'm sure you'll be better in no time"

Mikomi snorted as she rest her head on the cool surface of the table.

"That's the downside to having a chakra fever" she said.

"You never know when you're going to feel better. Since chakra is a natural essence that lives in the body, it could take days, maybe even weeks until the person feels better"

Cid fiddled with his lighter as he looked at his sick friend.

"Well, however long it takes, I'm sure Tifa and Cloud will take good care of you"

Mikomi smiled weakly at that.

Pakkun came back to the front with a thermos trapped into his jaw.

"Here you go" he said when he placed it in front of her.

"This should do the trick"

Mikomi sluggishly took the thermos and grimaced when she smelled the medicine .

"Yuri needs to learn to make her medicine taste better" she said.

She took a swig of it and nearly threw up when she tasted out foul it was. She had taken Yuri's medicine a lot as a kid, but they never tasted this horrible.

When she managed to swallow the sludge, her face looked a tad green.

"What the hell did you put in here?" she asked.

Pakkun shrugged.

"I mixed it like Yuri did it" he said.

"I don't remember it ever tasting this bad" Mikomi retorted.

"That's because I mixed vodka and cough syrup into it" Pakkun said.

"A couple sips of that, and you'll be out like a light"

At the mention of alcohol, Mikomi's attitude to the beverage changed.

"Oh, well in that case"

She went to take another swing, but Cloud snatched it from her and whacked her upside the head.

"Give me that" he snapped.

"You shouldn't be drinking this, especially since you're underage"

He then rounded out on Pakkun.

"And you. How stupid are you to give your master alcohol and cough syrup together? Are you trying to kill her?"

Mikomi held her head from where Cloud hit her.

"Why would you hit a sick person?" she whined.

"Why would a sick person drink something that's dangerous?" Cloud retorted.

Mikomi just pouted and went back to resting on the table.

Tifa came out from the back to see how she was doing.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

She placed her head on her forehead and frowned.

"You're fever's down, but now you're breaking out into a cold sweat" she said.

Mikomi didn't realize that she was cold until then. She held back a shiver as it went up her spine.

Vincent took off his cape and draped it over her shoulders so she wouldn't feel cold.

"Thanks" she muttered.

Cid got up from his seat and went to head into the kitchen.

"I know just the thing you need to get rid of those chills" he said.

"My granny made this soup that was so hot, it would sweat the fever right out of you. That should help you with this fever of yours"

Pakkun quickly followed after Cid before he could make anything.

"Mikomi is allergic to spices, so don't use those" he said.

"Otherwise her throat will close up"

Mikomi groaned when she realized that she didn't just have Tifa taking care of her, but the whole group now.

/

The soup didn't help Mikomi at all. In fact, it probably made her feel even worse.

The poor girl looked like she was half dead with the way she was knocked out in one of the booths.

"I guess it didn't work" Cid said.

Cloud lifted Mikomi's arm and watched as it fell lifelessly back on the table.

"I think you made it even worse" he said.

Aside from the soup, the young Kunoichi downed another glass of Yuri's medicine, a few pain relievers and some cough syrup before she knocked herself out.

It amazed everyone that she was still alive after drugging herself up like that.

Tifa carefully picked her up from her seat.

"I'll put her to bed" she said.

"You guys clean this up while I make her comfortable"

She slowly went upstairs without making any sudden movements.

She made it to her room and carefully placed her on her bed before pulling the covers up. When she saw her shiver, she added a few more blankets to keep her warm.

Red Xlll and Cat Sith suddenly appeared and jumped on the bed.

"We'll keep her warm" Cat Sith said.

Red Xlll curled up into a ball at the foot of the bed while Cat Sith snuggled in between Mikomi's arms.

Tifa smiled weakly and placed her hand on Mikomi's forehead.

"Feel better" she whispered.

She turned off the lights and let Mikomi sleep while she took care of things downstairs.

During the middle of the night, Mikomi got a special guest.

Aerith appeared by her bedside and smiled weakly at her.

"_Oh dear, it looks like you've got a bad cold" _she said.

She placed her hand on her forehead and cooled her fever down.

"_This should do the trick" _She said.

"_After all…I owe you for helping Cloud move on. Thank you"_

With that, she disappeared and let Mikomi sleep for the night.

/

The next day, Mikomi felt better than ever.

"Wow, 'Komi-chan. You heal fast" Yuffie said over breakfast.

Mikomi shrugged as she stuffed a piece of waffle in her mouth.

"I guess so" she said.

"But I think it's thanks to you guys"

"What did we do?" Tifa asked.

Mikomi smiled at them.

"You guys took great care of me while I wasn't feeling well" she said.

"I should thank you for that"

Cloud waved him off as he drank his coffee.

"There's no need to thank us" he said.

"Friends help each other out"

Mikomi smiled as she heard that word. No matter what they said, she would never get used to being called a friend.

Perhaps friendship was the best medicine to offer when one was sick.

/

**A/N: I know the ending sucked, but I didn't know how to finish it. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	10. To be a kid again

Chapter 10: To be a kid again

**A/N: I know it's been ages since I last update this story, but I had writers block. But since I finally came up with an idea, I decided to write it before I forgot it. **

**I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Mikomi smiled a little a she watched Denzel and Marlene play. She always envied them in a way. They grew up as normal kids and didn't have to worry about fighting or training. The only thing that they would have to think about was what game they would play next.

It must have been great to be a kid.

Yuffie sighed as she watched them play.

"Man, I wish I was still a kid" she said.

"Being able to fool around and not worry about adult stuff is like a dream come true"

Tifa rolled her eyes as she placed hers and Mikomi's lunch at one of the tables.

"True, but you don't get away with much when you're a kid" she said.

"You're not allowed to go to places by yourself. You can't stay up late, and most of all, you won't be able to go out and steal materia from people"

Yuffie shivered at that.

"On second thought, I think it's better to be an adult"

Mikomi snorted a little at Yuffie's child like humor and ate her sandwich.

"What about you, 'Komi-chan?" Yuffie asked.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a kid again?"

Mikomi made a face and shook her head.

So many bad things happened to her when she was a kid. She had to fight during one of the ninja world wars when she was 6. She lost her best friend Obito because she was kidnapped. And most of all, she lost her parents.

"No" she said.

"Too many bad things happened when I was little, and I would rather not go back to that portion of my life"

Tifa gave her a sad look.

"Lot of bad things, I take it"

Mikomi nodded.

"Comes with being a ninja" she said.

"You don't have time to have fun and fool around. When your village is at war, you need to prepare to fight, no matter your age. I didn't have time to play or act like a kid until my dad became Hokage. And even then, I didn't have a lot of time to act normal. And it was all because of that one treacherous night"

Tifa and Yuffie didn't need to think too hard about what she was talking about.

On that night when Mikomi lost her parents, she lost her chance to be a normal child. Ever since then, she was branded as a monster and could never live normally.

It wasn't fair.

Mikomi ran a hand through her hair as she leaned against her seat.

"But that's all in the past" she said.

"The only thing that I should look forward to is the future"

Tifa and Yuffie gave her a sad look. It was hard for them to believe that someone like her, who had so many bad things happen to her, could have a positive approach on life.

"_She has a strong heart" _they thought.

Little did they know, Denzel and Marlene heard the whole thing. They were coming in for lunch when they heard that Mikomi never had time to play as a kid.

That was horrible to them. Everyone should have time to have fun, even Mikomi.

Marlene looked up at Denzel.

"We should fix this" she whispered to him.

Denzel nodded.

"Yeah, and I have an idea"

They quickly went over their plan to get Mikomi to have fun for a day. They wanted their older sister to be happy.

/

Mikomi yawned the next morning when she woke up. It felt too early for her to be awake.

Cloud just shook his head at her while he was going through the receipts to his deliveries.

"Maybe if you didn't stay up late all the time, you wouldn't be so tired in the morning" he said.

Mikomi gave him a tired glare.

"And maybe if you weren't so lazy when it comes to keeping your room clean, you wouldn't have to go through all of those receipts"

Cloud glared at her and flipped her off.

Mikomi just returned the gesture and plopped her head on the counter.

Tifa sighed.

It kind of surprised her how Cloud was open to talk to Mikomi without saying less than three words. It seemed that he was starting to come out of his shell and accept his new life. And it was thanks to Mikomi's stubborn head.

"I swear, you two act like your siblings" she said.

Mikomi rolled her eyes.

"Please, if he and I were related, then it would be a scary sight to see" she said.

"I mean, think about: the emo, mighty Cloud Strife and his cheerful, courageous sister Mikomi. That has madness written all over it"

"She has a point for once" Cloud said.

Mikomi glared at him.

"No one asked for your opinion" she hissed.

Cloud just rolled his eyes and went back to organizing his receipts.

Denzel and Marlene came down and headed for Tifa.

"Tifa, can you take us to the park?" Marlene asked.

Tifa her a soft, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, but I have to tend to the bar today" she said.

Denzel looked at Cloud.

"What about you, Cloud?"

The blond emo just gave him a soft look.

"I have to file these receipts for all of these deliveries" he said.

"I don't think I can do it today"

The two children looked sad for a moment, before they perked up when they saw Mikomi.

"Hey! What about you, Onee-chan?" Marlene asked.

Mikomi blinked for a second before looking around then pointing towards herself.

"Who? Me?" she asked.

The two children nodded.

"Tifa, can Onee-chan take us to the park?" Denzel asked.

"Please?" Marlene added.

Tifa looked at Mikomi's bewildered face then at the pleading looks of the kids.

She shrugged as she smiled.

"I guess it's ok" she said.

The children cheered.

"Yay!"

They both grabbed Mikomi's arms and dragged her out of the bar.

"Come on, Onee-chan! Let's go!" Denzel said.

"Let's go on the swings!" Marlene said.

Mikomi stumbled as they dragged her outside.

"W-wait! I don't even know where the park is!" she said.

Tifa laughed as Mikomi was dragged way by two little children.

Cloud had a slight smirk on his face as well.

"They totally planned this" Cloud said.

Tifa nodded.

"That they did" she said.

"I guess they're a lot smarter than they appear"

/

Mikomi blinked a couple of times when they made it to the park. While Edge was a tab on the gloomy side, the park was the exact opposite.

Everything was colorful and vibrant. A drastic change to the area that they lived.

Marlene dragged Mikomi towards the swings.

"Let's go on the swings!" she said.

She hopped on a swing and started pushing herself forward.

Mikomi just stood there and watched as Denzel and Marlene competed to see who could swing higher.

She remembered just watching while Naruto played. She would rather that her brother had a chance to have fun instead of her. He needed it more than she did.

"Aren't you going to join us, Onee-chan?" Denzel asked.

Mikomi smiled weakly and just waved her hand.

"Nah, it's ok" she said.

"You two have fun. I'll just keep an eye on you"

"But Onee-chan, It'll be boring if you just stand there" Marlene said.

Mikomi shrugged.

"People my age don't usually play on the swings from where I'm from" she said.

"I'm always doing missions"

"But you're not at your place right now" Denzel pointed out.

"So whatever you do here, they won't know"

"We won't tell" Marlene said.

Mikomi sighed.

For a couple of kids, they did have a valid point.

Looking around to make sure no one was looking, she went over to the swing set and sat in between them.

"I haven't been on one of these for ages" she said.

"Well, now you are" Denzel said.

Mikomi smirked a little.

"Yeah…I am"

She kicked off the ground and started swinging herself into the air. Each time she went higher, it reminded her of the times when her dad would push her one the swing. She would always tell him to push her higher so that they could reach the tree leaves. As she was swinging, she could hear her dad laughing in her head.

Oh, how she missed this.

Denzel laughed as he saw how high she was.

"Wow! Look how high you are!" he said.

"Onee-chan's flying!" Marlene cheered.

Mikomi laughed a little when she realized that she really was flying. If she went any higher, she would flip out of her seat.

"Jump! Jump!" Denzel chanted.

Mikomi smirked devilishly as she was baited into the chant.

Pushing off the swing, she jumped off and did a few flips before landing gracefully to the ground.

She held her hands in the air as she smiled proudly.

"Ta-dah!" she cried.

Denzel and Marlene laughed in excitement. Mikomi bowed dramatically at them.

"Thank you, thank you" she said.

Denzel and Marlene looked at each other for a moment before they looked at Mikomi.

"Now catch us!"

Mikomi yelped when Denzel jumped off his swing and flew towards her. Thanks to her ninja reflexes, she was able to catch him before he crashed into her.

"Are you crazy?" she cried.

"My turn!" Marlene cried.

Mikomi quickly put Denzel down and caught Marlene when she jumped off as well.

The two children laughed at Mikomi's expression when she put them down.

"You're funny!" Marlene said.

Mikomi gave them a stern look.

"Don't do that again" she said.

"Only Yuffie and I are allowed to do crazy things. You could have gotten hurt"

"Sorry, Onee-chan" they said in unison.

Mikomi sighed when she realized that she probably went a little too far. She couldn't help it. When she saw a kid, it just reminded her of Naruto and how he would do stupid things to get her attention.

"I know I may be a little harsh" she said.

"But I just want to make you two don't get hurt. We can still have fun, but just not something that'll probably get us killed"

The two children nodded.

"Ok!"

"Let's go on the slides next!" Marlene said.

Mikomi smiled.

"Then the slides it is!"

The three of them raced towards the slides. They all went down by themselves first then they slid down together. The three of them were laughing as they were all bunched up and slid down the long slope.

They kept doing this until the sun started to set.

"It's getting dark" Mikomi said.

"We should head back"

Denzel and Marlene pouted a bit, but complied.

They both held her hands as they started to head back to the bar.

"Did you have fun, Onee-chan?" Marlene asked.

Mikomi smiled and nodded.

"Yep" she said.

"It's the most fun I had in a long time"

"If you want, we can come to the park again tomorrow so we can have more fun" Denzel offered.

Mikomi smiled softly at that.

"I'd love that"

Denzel and Marlene smiled at each other, knowing that their plan had worked.

As they were heading back to the bar, Mikomi realized that it was alright to act like a kid at times.

It was the natural human thing.

And Mikomi had these two children to thank for that.

Because of them, they made her realize just how human she really was.

/

**A/N: And there you go! I thought it was nice to do a little chapter where Mikomi spent some bonding time with Denzel and Marlene. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	11. Bounty Hunting

Chapter 11: Bounty Hunting

**A/N: hey everyone! Guess what? I'm not dead! I'm really sorry I didn't update this story in a while. I've been busy with my other stories and the other chapters to this series. But now that I have time for this story, I can finally post a chapter! **

**Thank you so much for those of you who still stuck with this story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"Come on, Pakkun. Quit being a little bitch"

"No!"

"I'm not going to tell you again"

"No!"

"You won't get any treats for a month"

"Fuck you!"

A very irritated scowl was present on Mikomi's face as she looked at her ninja pug. Tifa had commented that Pakkun smelled from being outside all the time and asked if he could be given a bath.

Since Pakkun was her dog and that Tifa was allowing her to stay at the bar, she felt it was her responsibility to give Pakkun a bath. Now while that seemed like an easy job, it was anything but that.

Pakkun was what everyone would call a diva. He wouldn't take a bath unless the water was at the right temperature and if he had his favorite smelling shampoo. Now the fact that a dog wanting a certain smelling shampoo was weird, it paled in comparison to a bitchy one.

Mikomi growled as she glared at the pug, who refused to jump into the baby pool that Cloud provided.

"Get in the tub, Pakkun. I'm not telling you again"

Pakkun blew a raspberry at her.

"No!" he snapped.

"You can't make me"

"Tifa said you can't come into the bar until you've taken a bath" Mikomi explained.

"You're driving away customers with your stench"

"But you're not using my favorite shampoo" the pug whined.

Mikomi held the bridge of her nose and resisted the urge to bang her head against the side of the bar. These were moments when she wished that Kakashi didn't pamper Pakkun to the point where he was so demanding.

"I know, but I found a nice shampoo that smells really good" she tried to reason.

"It even smells like flowers"

Pakkun growled.

"I don't want to smell like flowers!" he barked.

"I always used 'Minty rainforest mist' with extra body. I won't use any other shampoo or else my fur won't be as glossy"

This time Mikomi really did bang her head against the bar and glared at Pakkun.

"You're really pissing me off, dog" she said.

"Get in the tub"

Pakkun sat in front of the tub and pouted.

"No!" he snapped.

That did it for Mikomi. She loved Pakkun really much and thought he was the best ninja dog that Konoha ever had, but there were times when he really pissed her off. Today was no exception.

"That's it!"

Stomping over to him, she picked the pug up and brought him over to the tub.

"You are going to take a bath, even if I have to force you" she said.

Pakkun wiggled in her grip and tried to get away.

"Get away from me, you crazy bitch!" he cried.

Mikomi laughed darkly as she started to lower him into the tub. It was sad that she took pleasure in torturing her dog like this, but he deserved it.

Just as he was about to touch the water, Pakkun wiggled out of Mikomi's grasp and jumped on her head, pushing her forward in the process.

Mikomi screamed when she fell into the tub, causing soap and water to splash everywhere. Pakkun landed on the ground and laughed at the sight of his owner face first into the tub with her legs dangling.

Mikomi pushed herself out of the water and spat out the soapy water. She whipped her head around and gave Pakkun a murderous stare.

"Pakkun" she growled.

The pug gulped and ran into the bar to get away from her. Mikomi shot up to her feet and chases after her four legged companion.

"Get back here, you mangy mutt!" she cried.

"When I get my hands on you, I'm turning you into a bunch of hot dogs!"

Pakkun ran around the bar, diving under tables and jumping over stools to get away from Mikomi. The ninja yelled profanities every time she missed and threatened her pug.

"Get back here!"

Pakkun landed on a pile of papers that were on the bar and jumped behind the island when Mikomi went to wrap her arms around his throat. The papers scattered everywhere and littered the floor.

"Now look what you've done" she snapped.

She bent down and gathered all of the papers before someone stepped on them.

"Stupid dog, with his stupid shampoo and stupid glossy fur" she grumbled.

She stacked the papers nicely and went to place them back on the table until a certain piece caught her attention.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was this month's bill for the place and saw that the numbers were rather high for such a tiny bar.

"That's a lot of zeroes" she muttered.

She sadly looked at the rest of the bill and saw that it was mostly for water and electricity.

Ever since she came here, she tended to take longer showers after a long day of training and tended to stay up late. Tifa never said anything about her habits so she thought it was ok. But after seeing how much the bill was, she felt horrible.

"I can't believe they never said anything" she whispered.

She didn't know if Cloud and Tifa would be able to cover for this month. Work was kind of slow for Tifa and people weren't asking for a lot of deliveries out of Cloud. If this kept up, they probably wouldn't be able to pay this month's rent.

She bit her lip as she slowly lowered the papers to the table. This was her fault and she had to fix it.

"_They kept me under their roof, even though I'm basically a stranger to them" _she thought.

"_I have to repay them somehow"_

When she heard someone coming down the stairs, she quickly fixed the papers so it looked like no one went through them.

She needed to fix this and she needed to fix it fast.

"Hey ,Tifa, I'm going out for a tiny bit!" she called out.

"Ok, but don't stay out for long" the bartender replied.

Nodding to herself, Mikomi quickly left the bar and looked for a way to make some extra cash fast.

Pakkun poked his head out from his hiding spot and watched his master leave the bar.

"Looks like bath time will be put on hold for a while" he muttered.

He quickly ran after his master, knowing she would get herself into trouble if she went out on her own.

/

"Ugh, where can I find a place that will get me some cash fast?" Mikomi wondered to herself.

She walked through the streets of Edge, looking to see if anyone was hiring for anything or looking for help. So far no one seemed to be interested and looked like they didn't really have any money to spare.

Pakkun trotted close to his master and looked at the window's for any clues.

"I don't see why you have to make such a big deal out of this" he said.

"It's not like they asked you to help them out or anything"

Mikomi gave the pug a glare.

"But that's the whole point" she said.

"They're way too nice to ask for anything. They know that I'm trying to find a way back to Konoha and would rather help me with my problems then have me help them with theirs. They've put a roof over our heads and gave us food to eat. This is the least that we can do"

Pakkun just sighed, but agreed to his master's logic.

"Well, it looks like no one is hiring or looking for help" he said.

"Unless you want to steal from someone, I don't think you'll be getting any luck today"

Mikomi stuffed her hands into her pockets and growled.

"There has to be a place where people are looking for help" she said.

She caught the sight of a poster out of the corner of her eye and had to do a double take to see what it said. It showed a picture of a creepy looking monster with a description of what it was and who wanted it dead. That didn't catch Mikomi's eyes. What caught her attention was the big fat reward that was offered if anyone killed the beast and brought it back.

"30,000 gil? That's a lot!" Mikomi exclaimed.

Pakkun read the poster as well and had to agree.

"I'm sure with that amount, that would cover at least half of the bill, maybe a little more than that" he surmised.

Mikomi ripped the poster off of the wall and studied it better.

"It says that the person who wants it dead is in town" she said.

She smiled and shoved the poster into the pug's face.

"Maybe we do have a chance to make some extra cash!" she said.

Pakkun shoved the paper away from his face and gave his master a serious stare.

"In case you haven't notice, it said that this monster was dangerous" he said.

"I doubt that just anybody can take this job"

Mikomi snorted.

"And in case _you _haven't noticed, we're ninjas and have taken on a couple of A-rank missions and one S-rank. I'd say we're qualified for this"

"Yeah? And what will Tifa and Cloud say about this when you show them your brilliant idea?" Pakkun added.

Mikomi placed a finger over the pug's lips in mocking manner.

"What they don't know won't hurt them" she said.

"We'll just finish this up quickly and rake in the cash before sundown. This will be a piece of cake"

Pakkun rolled his eyes.

"I doubt it" he said.

Mikomi glared at him.

"You keep this up and not only will I give you a bath every day, but I'll refuse to buy your favorite shampoo for the rest of your life"

That changed the pug's mind right away.

"Like I said, what are we waiting for?" he said.

"We have a job to do so let's get moving. That thing won't kill itself, you know"

The pug quickly ran ahead, leaving his master behind. A foxy grin spread across Mikomi's lips when her planed work.

"Dogs will believe anything" she said.

She quickly followed after her pug and went to start her hunting.

/

"Thanks! I'll try to be back soon!"

Leaving the bounty hunting shop, Mikomi pulled out the map that the customer gave her and a paper describing what she was going up against.

"So what did he say about our target?" Pakkun asked.

Mikomi shrugged and looked at the map.

"Not much" she said.

"Only that it's been spotted in these two areas near the outskirt of town and that sometimes it's been seen in those places at the same time. He wants to know why that is and to kill it before it hurts anyone"

Pakkun hummed in thought.

"Sounds a lot like a shadow clone jutsu if you ask me" he said.

Mikomi nodded and looked at the beast description.

"Yeah, but I doubt people use justu around here" she said.

"Maybe they have some sort of magic or something that's similar to it"

"I guess we won't know until we find out" Pakkun said.

Mikomi nodded and pumped her fist.

"You got that right!" she said.

"This is the work for none other than a mighty ninja!"

"Who's a mighty ninja?"

Mikomi yelped when Yuffie jumped off a building and landed in front of her. The fact that she was here of all places was bad news. If Yuffie found out what she was doing, she would most likely tell Cloud and Tifa.

The Wutai ninja could never keep a secret for long.

Yuffie smiled at her ninja buddy.

"Hey, Mikomi!" she cried.

Mikomi laughed nervously and held the paper close to her.

"H-Hi, Yuffie" she said.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Yuffie smiled and held up a Materia.

"I was just getting myself some new Materia" she said.

"What are you doing here? Don't know that this is the outskirt of town? It's dangerous around here"

Mikomi laughed and tried to hide the paper behind her back.

"O-oh, y-yeah, of course I know" she said.

"I-I was just taking Pakkun out for a walk. Nothing more"

Yuffie peered over Mikomi's shoulder where the paper was hidden.

"What do you have there?" she asked.

Mikomi gulped and shook her head.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" she said.

Yuffie stood on her tip toes to get a better look at Mikomi's back.

"No, I saw you hide something behind your back" she said.

"Whattcha got?"

Mikomi stuffed the paper into her back pocket and tired to be discreet as possible.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about" she said.

"You must be losing it"

Yuffie pouted for a second before plastering on a cheeky grin.

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain this?"

She pounced on Mikomi and snatched the paper from her, dangling it in her face.

"Look what I found!"

Mikomi panicked and tired to get the paper back.

"H-hey! Give that back!" she cried.

Yuffie held it out of her reach and read the paper.

"Oh, relax" she said.

"It can't be that bad"

Her smile feel when she realized that it was a bounty poster for a very dangerous creature. A creature Mikomi didn't know was a Behemoth.

Her face went pale as she looked at her friend. Was she seriously planning on killing a behemoth?

"K-komi-chan" she asked.

"Why do you have a bounty poster?"

Mikomi snatched the poster from Yuffie and held it close.

"I can't tell you" she said.

Yuffie rarely freaked out over anything. She always took everything as a joke and laughed it off. But the fact that her new friend was planning on killing a behemoth did not seem funny to her. It was scary.

"Why in Gaia are you doing this?" she cried.

"Don't you know how dangerous the outskirts are? You could kill yourself!"

Mikomi bit her lip. She felt bad that she was keeping this from Yuffie, but it had to be done. She had to help Cloud and Tifa out.

"I'll be fine, don't worry" she said.

"I'm a ninja after all"

Yuffie put her hands on her hips.

"So am I" she said.

"But you don't see me going out doing crazy stuff"

Mikomi and Pakkun gave her a look.

"Ok, you don't see me doing crazy stuff that will get me killed" she corrected.

"Why are you even doing this?"

Mikomi shuffled her feet.

"For the money" she muttered.

Yuffie went ballistic at that. It was common to see the Wutai ninja go crazy over certain stuff, but when it came to her friend's well being, she went super crazy.

"Are you an idiot?" she screeched.

"You're risking your life just to get a little money? You can just ask Cloud and Tifa! They would be happy to loan you some. Don't risk your life just so you can have a little cash"

Mikomi glared at Yuffie when she heard that. She was making it seem that she was being selfish by wanting money for herself when it was actually for Cloud and Tifa.

"It's not for me!" she finally snapped.

"It's for Cloud and Tifa"

Yuffie blinked for a second. She tried to wrap her mind over what she just heard.

"Huh?"

Mikomi huffed in annoyance.

"It's for Cloud and Tifa" she repeated.

"I accidentally saw their bill for this month, and I wanted to make some extra cash for them to use. They've kept me under their roof when they didn't have to and never asked me to do anything. It's only right that I repay them somehow, so I'm going to give them some extra money"

She looked at the ground sadly.

"I just want to repay the kindness that they've given me since I came here"

Yuffie just stared at her while she told her tale.

Mikomi sighed and tucked the paper into her pocket again.

"I know it's dangerous, but I just can't do anything" she said.

"I'm a ninja, so I've faced danger before. It may seem stupid to you, but it seems right to me"

She walked past Yuffie and headed for the outskirts where here target was.

Yuffie quickly ran up to her and blocked her path again.

"You can't go out there by yourself" she repeated.

Mikomi glared at her.

"And I told that I don't-"

"Unless you have someone who knows this place" Yuffie finished.

Mikomi raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh?"

Yuffie smiled and jabbed a thumb at herself.

"I'll go with you" she said.

"If I'm with you, then it won't be so dangerous"

Mikomi just looked at her. Just seconds ago, she was telling her to not go out into the outskirts, but now she was fine with it?

"Why?" she asked.

Yuffie giggled.

"Because I want to help out" she said.

"I live at the bar too most of the time, and I should be pitching in for the bills as well. If you're doing it, then I should too"

Her smile softened a little.

"And I think it's sweet that you want to help Cloud and Tifa out" she said.

"You're a good person"

Mikomi blushed and looked away.

"I-I'm just acting like I usually am" she said.

"That's nothing special"

Yuffie laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, it may not seem much to you, but it says a lot to me" she said.

"Now let's go find that Behemoth before it gets dark out. A lot of the dangerous monsters tend to come out at night"

Mikomi nodded.

"Right"

The two kunoichi's ran for the outskirts with Pakkun on their tail.

"We're gonna die" the pug muttered.

/

"I'm back" Cloud said as he entered into the bar.

Tifa came from the back to greet him with a smile.

"How did it go?" she asked.

Cloud ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"Another slow day" he said.

"It seems that no one wants to make any deliveries since the outskirts are so dangerous lately"

Tifa gave him a weak smile.

"I'm sure things will pick up" she said.

"I hope so" Cloud muttered.

He looked around the bar when he noticed that it was unusually quiet.

"Is Mikomi out?"

Tifa nodded.

"She said she was going out for a tiny bit, but she's been gone for a couple of hours"

She placed a hand on her check.

"I hope she gets back soon. It's getting dark out and that's when the monsters usually come out. I don't think she's able to fight off those things all on her own"

Cloud got up from his seat and headed for the door.

"I'll go look for her" he said.

Tifa smiled at that. She was glad that Cloud finally warmed up to Mikomi.

"Please hurry" she said.

"I don't want any of you to get hurt"

Cloud nodded and headed outside to begin his search for the missing Ninja.

/

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be out so far in the open?" Mikomi asked.

They were well away from the town at this point and stood out in the barren wastelands of the outskirts. Yuffie insisted that if they were going to kill a Behemoth, it would have to be out in a very open space. That was fine with Mikomi, but the fact that it was nearly dark out now didn't really settle well with her. She always knew that crazy animals and people struck at night and used the darkness as their cloak. They could attack you and you would never be able to see who it was.

That was bad for a ninja. A blind ninja is a dead Ninja.

Pakkun had his ears back as he studied the area. He couldn't really see either, but his hearing was far better than his human companions.

"I don't like this at all" Pakkun said.

"We're just asking for trouble, being out here"

Yuffie scratched her head nervously.

"Yeah, I agree with you"

"Maybe we should head back and do this tomorrow"

"You don't have to tell me twice" Mikomi said.

They made a 'U' turn and headed back for town.

"I hope Tifa won't be mad that I stayed out for so long" Mikomi said.

"I'm sure she won't" Yuffie said.

"If you explain the situation to her, I'm sure she would understand"

"I can't tell her what I'm doing" Mikomi said.

"It would make her feel bad"

"There's nothing wrong with letting your pride get deflated once in a while" Pakkun said.

"It's one of the many traits of life"

"Oh, shut up" Mikomi said.

As they walked, the heard a low rumble coming from behind them. The sound of it was so odd and so out of place in the quiet outskirts.

The two of them skid to a stop at the sound.

"Yuffie?" Mikomi asked.

"Y-yeah?" Yuffie replied.

"Please tell me that was your stomach"

Yuffie laughed nervously.

"I-I thought that was you" she said.

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't me" Pakkun said.

The rumble came again, only this time it was really close.

"I don't like the sound of that" Yuffie said.

"Me either" Mikomi said.

She quickly fished through her weapon's pouch and pulled out a few emergency flares. Lighting them up, she threw them around the area so they could see what was near them.

The sight before them made her blood run cold.

Growling with hunger was none other than a Behemoth. The Behemoth that they were supposed to find.

"Uh-oh" Yuffie said.

The Behemoth growled deep within its throat before letting out a mighty roar.

Yuffie and Mikomi screamed with fright.

/

"Seriously, where could she be?"

Cloud had searched through a majority of the town in search of Mikomi. So far, either nobody saw her or they didn't know who she was.

The usually, sullen SOLDIER was starting to get nervous when he saw how dark it had gotten. By now, the monsters that roamed the outskirts of town were out looking for prey.

"She better be close" he said to himself.

"Hey Cloud!"

The Chocobo head turned to see the owner of the local Materia store. The old man had a pissed off look on his face as he approached the hero.

"You're Wutai friend is up to no good again" he said.

Cloud sighed. Of course Yuffie would give the Materia owner trouble just so she could add to collection.

"What did she do this time? Steal from you again?"

The owner growled.

"Yes! And she's dragging innocent bystanders into it as well!" he said.

"I saw her drag this cute little brunette off to the outskirts of town!"

Cloud raised an eyebrow at that.

"Cute brunette?" he repeated.

The owner nodded.

"Yeah, she wearing weird clothing and had some sort of fabric wrapped around her neck. I swear, you need to teach that Wutai friend of yours a lesson before she get's someone hurt"

Cloud's blood ran cold. Yuffie and Mikomi went to the outskirts…where the monsters were.

"Oh no"

He quickly ran off for the outskirts. He didn't know what Yuffie was thinking, but someone was going to get into a lot of trouble.

/

"Look out!" Yuffie cried.

Mikomi ducked when the Behemoth swiped its claw at him and threw an exploding Kunai at it. This monster seemed to have a body made of steel because nothing she used had any effect on it.

Yuffie threw her giant Shuriken at the Behemoth and went to Mikomi.

"You had any luck?" she asked.

Mikomi shook her head and threw another Kunai.

"Nothing I throw has any effect on it" she said.

"And I can't sink my teeth into that thick hide" Pakkun said.

"I don't know about you, but I think we're way in over our heads at the moment"

Mikomi gulped and ran out of the way when the Behemoth charged at her.

"God, this is like the Chunin exams all over again" she whined.

She was scared out of her mind at the moment, but she refused to back down. A ninja never walked away from a battle.

Yuffie pulled out a cure Materia and healed themselves up a bit.

"This is nuts!" she cried.

"I can't land a hit"

"Me either and I'm running low on weapons" Mikomi said.

She looked at her remaining weapons to find that all she had left were paper bombs and some wire. That really didn't look promising, but it was better than nothing.

She figured she could use the paper bombs as explosives and place them all over the Behemoth. The only problem was that she needed a fuse to ignite them all at once to let that happen, and she didn't have a lighter on her.

"_Wait a minute" _she thought.

She looked at Yuffie then at the Materia she was holding.

The light bulb suddenly went off in her head.

"Hey, Yuffie. Do you have any Materia that uses fire?"

Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah, I have lots of them"

Mikomi smiled with relief.

"Good. Get out your strongest fire one and have it ready. I have an idea"

Yuffie nodded and fished out her trusty Materia.

Mikomi looked at the Behemoth and held up the paper bombs.

"It's Yellow Flash time"

She zipped around the Behemoth and planted all of the bombs on its body. All had the wire attached to it and would work as the fuse that would ignite the bomb.

She landed next to Yuffie and held out the wire.

"Now!"

Yuffie cast the fire spell and watched as the flame zipped down the wire and hit the paper bombs.

The Behemoth went up in flames as the bombs went off and singed the poor beast to death.

"We did it!" Yuffie cheered.

Mikomi pumped a fist.

"Hell yeah!"

They both high fived each other on their hard work and looked at the now dead Behemoth.

"30,000 gil, here we come!" Yuffie cried.

Mikomi went over to the carcass and looked at it.

"How are we going to bring it back into town?" she wondered.

Yuffie pondered that as well.

"Maybe we should ask Cloud if we could use his bike?" she suggested.

She suddenly sweat dropped.

"But then again, he would wonder why we needed it in the first place…and he never lets anyone ride his bike"

Mikomi ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, I could always seal it within a scroll and bring it back that way"

"Wouldn't hurt to try" Pakkun said.

Mikomi pulled out a blank scroll.

"It's a good thing Yuri showed me how to seal items up, otherwise we would be screwed"

She placed the scroll on the ground and went to perform the handsigns when a low rubble was heard.

"What was that?" Pakkun said.

The rumble was heard again before something landed in front of them.

Another Behemoth!

"What the hell? I thought there was only one?" Yuffie cried.

"I guess we were right that there were two" Pakkun said.

This didn't work well for Mikomi since she used up all of her paper bombs on the first Behemoth.

They were screwed big time right now.

The Behemoth roared as it dug its claws into the ground.

The girls screamed and held onto each other, knowing that they were in deep shit right about now.

"Help!" Yuffie cried.

"No one is going to hear us out here, you idiot!" Pakkun cried.

The Behemoth charged at them, intending to kill them both. But when it was a foot away, it suddenly collapsed.

"Huh?"

Upon closer inspection, they noticed a rather large sword sticking out of its back.

The Buster Sword!

Cloud appeared from behind the Behemoth with a very ticked off look on his face.

"Cloud!" Yuffie cried.

"You saved us!"

She gulped at the murderous look on the Chocobo head's face and hid behind Mikomi.

They were in trouble now.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hurt you both" he said.

Mikomi gulped nervously. She remembered seeing that look whenever she got in trouble with her parents. Minato and Kushina could be very scary when they were angry.

Cloud tapped his foot in annoyance.

"Well?" he snapped.

Yuffie pointed at Mikomi.

"It was her idea!" she cried.

Mikomi glared at her.

"Yuffie!" she hissed.

"What? You were the one who wanted to come out here and kill that Behemoth for the bounty" Yuffie said.

"Bounty?" Cloud repeated.

Mikomi gulped and wrung her hands nervously. Oh yeah, she was in big trouble now.

Cloud set his firm gaze on the girl who was currently living with him.

"Care to explain to me what Yuffie is talking about?" he asked.

Pakkun looked at his owner and nodded.

"Just tell him" he said.

Mikomi bit her lip as she fiddled with her headband.

"W-well, I was trying to give Pakkun a bath earlier and he hid into the bar" she explained.

"When I saw running after him, I-I kind bumped into a pile of papers that were resting at the island and went to pick them up. When I was picking them up, I accidentally saw that one of them was the bill for this month and I noticed that it was a little high. I felt bad because I've been staying with you a Tifa for a couple of weeks now, so I wanted to help out and pay the rent for you this month"

Cloud crossed his arms.

"So you mean to tell me that you were going to get yourself killed just to pay for something that didn't involve you?" he asked.

Mikomi flinched. He was making it sound that she was an idiot for wanting to help.

Cloud held the bridge of his nose.

"You're such an idiot" he said.

Yuffie glared at him.

"Hey! Don't say that!" she snapped.

"Komi-chan was trying to be nice and repay for you letting her stay at your place! None of the guys pitch in for the bills whenever they stay over. You should be grateful that you met someone who would go out of their way to repay your kindness!"

She didn't like that Cloud was being mean to Mikomi. She could tell that Mikomi was good person and deserved the title of a true friend.

A real friend would go out of their way to help others, even if it meant they got hurt in the process.

Cloud just rubbed his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm not saying that it was stupid of her for wanting to help" he said.

"It's the method that she choose"

He gave Mikomi a serious look.

"I'm very grateful that you want to help out, but your life is far more important that paying a stupid bill"

He went over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Next time you want to pitch in, just let us know and we'll see if we can help you find a job around town. Don't go off doing dangerous stuff like this"

Mikomi bit her lip when she felt a tear threatening to spill over. She was worried that Cloud would be mad that she secretly tried to make some cash to help him out, but he was more concerned about her wellbeing than a silly bill.

He was very kind, despite his appearance.

"Ok" she said.

"I'll let you know next time"

Yuffie stepped away from Mikomi when she realized it was safe and pumped her fist.

"Now that the tension is gone, I say this is a great time to celebrate!" she cheered.

"The fact that there were two Behemoths means double the bounty! So we'll not get 30,000 gill but 60,000! That's enough to buy all of the Materia in town!"

"That's for the rent, you idiot" Pakkun said.

Yuffie pouted.

"Hey! I'm allowed to dream too, ya know!"

Mikomi laughed a little. It seemed that she was able to get enough money to help Cloud and Tifa to pay their bills, but in the end, she would never do something like this again.

"_I guess it's always nice to do something at least once" _she thought.

/

(Three days later)

After the little bounty hunting incident, Mikomi was forbidden to leave town unless it was with anyone but Yuffie.

Tifa was able to use the money that Mikomi earned to pay for not just this month's bill, but for the next three months.

"Please don't do something like that again" Tifa said.

Mikomi sweat dropped. When Cloud told the martial artist what she had done, she got even a worse lecture from Tifa than she did from Cloud.

"I was just trying to help" she insisted.

"I know" Tifa said.

"But that's something you shouldn't put your life on the line for"

Mikomi rolled her eyes.

"Where I'm from, you have to put your life on the line for everything" she said.

"That's what it means to be a ninja and that's how you make a living"

Tifa patted her head.

"Yeah, well you're not on your world, you're here" she said.

"Those rules don't apply here. You don't need to throw your life away for us"

Mikomi smiled a little.

"Thanks"

The door slammed open as Yuffie ran into the bar.

"Hey, Komi-chan! Guess what?" she cried.

She held up a flier that contained information about a bounty hunting in town.

"This guy is looking for someone to capture a stray dog and he said he's willing to pay 500 gil!"

Mikomi sweat dropped.

"That's great" she said.

Yuffie grabbed her hand and dragged her outside.

"We can totally own this job if we do it together! And we can buy tons of Materia!"

"Cloud said she's forbidden to do bounty hunting" Tifa reminded her.

Yuffie snorted.

"He said for outside of town ; he never said anything if it was _in _town" she pointed out.

She smiled at her partner in crime.

"Come on! Let's go!"

The Wutai ninja dragged the Konoha ninja through the streets in search of their newest target.

After that day, Mikomi made a living off of hunting wild monsters and any job that people needed her for.

In other words, her new job title was a mercenary.

/

**A/N: I found it funny that Mikomi's new job was Cloud's old job from the game.**

**This was a really long chapter, but I'm sure that makes up for the long wait.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


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